StarCrossed
by just a little wicked
Summary: Life isn’t fair. Yes, I believe I have heard that somewhere before. Just when everything seems perfect, everything just has to go horribly wrong. That’s the story of my life I suppose. [NOW COMPLETE][BOOK ONE IN THE TRILOGY]
1. Vision

_The term star-crossed basically means doomed. It means that according to the stars, you're, well, screwed XD _

Like Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers. Their love affair was doomed.

* * *

**Chapter One:**

At last, my senior year had arrived. It seemed as if it was taking forever for this day to actually come, and now, I was finally going to be a senior. I had _arrived. _My first senior year was going to officially start tomorrow morning; although it will only be my first. After all, soon Edward would have to eventually give in, and make me immortal.

Of course, I hadn't given up on Edward turning me. And, of course, Edward was still dead-set against it. No pun intended there, of course. Every time I was to mention it, he'd get angry, and ramble on about damning my soul. He refused to do it; he said that I would only regret it. How could I regret it? Being changed meant being with him forever. Why would I regret that? Maybe I was asking the wrong question; maybe _he_ would be the one to regret it. Did he not want to be with me forever?

I refused to think about that option.

I jumped out of my bed, almost screaming with joy. I could stand! I had just gotten my cast off yesterday, and I was still getting used to actually walking. Therefore, the second my feet hit the floor, I tripped and fell flat on my face. "Crap." I muttered, annoyed with myself. I couldn't do something like that at school, how embarrassing would that be?

I placed the palms of my hands flat on the floor next to me, and pushed myself up, onto my knees. "How graceful of me," I sighed, as I pushed myself back onto my feet.

"Human moment time," I announced to no one. Edward left for hunting the day before, and he should be coming home soon. I grinned, as I grabbed my toiletries and my outfit of choice for the day. It was sad how much I missed him when he was gone, even if it was only one night. I was a little _too _dependant. I couldn't imagine what I would have done if he had left, like he suggested in the hospital.

I practically skipped to the bathroom, almost tripping on the way. I decided that skipping was definitely a bad idea for a while. I should be able to walk, before I try to skip. I shut the door behind me once I got inside, and twisted the little knob, locking the door.

I stripped off my pajamas, and hopped into the shower, and spun the shower handle, letting the hot water fall, and relax my tense muscles. I lathered my hair, and the strong scent of my strawberry shampoo filled the room. Once I washed my body, and felt that I was clean enough, I turned off the water, and toweled off.

I had chosen the lavender shirt that Edward loved on me, and a simple pair of blue jeans. I always loved wearing this shirt around Edward, especially when we haven't seen each other for a few days. (He left Saturday morning, so technically it was a day, a night, and another half of a day, but who's counting?)

Once I had brushed through my hair, I just decided to put it in a ponytail. After brushing my teeth, I carefully trotted down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I wasn't surprised to see Charlie sitting at the kitchen table. He was eating a bowl of cereal, and reading the sports page of the paper.

"Good morning, Dad." I greeted, opening the fridge, and pulling out the milk.

He didn't even look up from the paper, "Morning Bells, how'd you sleep?"

"Good," I replied pouring some Cheerios into a bowl, and drowning them in milk. I sat across from Charlie at the table, and began munching on my breakfast.

"What's on the agenda for you today?" he asked, seeming to be pleased by my chipper mood.

"Well, Edward is coming back into town today, so I suppose I'll be spending the day with him," I explained, and he looked up, "if that's okay with you." I added with a smile.

Charlie nodded, "Alright Bella," he agreed, earning another grin from me. He did like Edward, much to my satisfaction. Edward was always by my side when I was at the hospital, and that must have earned back some respect. After all, he blamed Edward for me trying to leave to go back to Phoenix. But, once Charlie saw Edward's concern for me, I think he saw that he really did care for me, and vice versa. "You have to be home by six though." He added, going back to his paper.

"...Why?" I replied, gulping down the rest of my cereal.

"Billy and Jacob Black are coming over for dinner tonight."

I winced, "Oh, okay." I squeaked.

He looked at me oddly, and tried to say something, but I stopped him. "I'm going to head to the Cullen's now." Surely Alice would know that I was coming over there, so I wouldn't have to wait for Edward to pick me up. The less awkward conversation with Charlie, the better.

Charlie just nodded, and I rose from the chair, put my bowl in the sink, and grabbed my keys. "See you tonight." He called.

And with that, I slipped on a pair of flip-flops, and was out the door, and on the way to my truck. I hopped in, and started the engine, the loud rumbling causing me to jump, as usual. I chuckled at myself, Edward was right. A good scare could do me some good. I was way too skittish. Rolling my eyes, I backed out of the driveway, and started off towards the Cullens.

**XOXO**

As I pulled into the driveway, I noticed Alice sitting outside on the front lawn waiting for me; just as I expected. I hopped out of the truck, and noticed Alice was a little more excited then usual. Oh. Crap.

"Hello Alice," I greeted happily.

She jumped up, and grinned widely. "Hey!" she said. There seemed to be a glow of happiness radiating off of her.

"What did you see?" I asked, curiously. She obviously saw something that was making her happy.

She smirked, "You'll just have to wait and find out." She laughed, almost manically.

I snorted, which made her laugh even harder. Suddenly, Edward was standing next to me. I jumped, not prepared to see him there. Once it hit me however, I threw my arms around his neck. "Edward!" I squealed.

Alice giggled, and Edward and I ignored her, as Edward pressed his cold lips to mine. I stood on my tip-toes in order to deepen the kiss. My heart sped up as he put his arms around me, and kissed me passionately, while still sticking to his boundaries. But then, he abruptly, but gently pulled away. "Bella Swan, you will be the death of me."

I smiled, as I tried to steady my heart. "Not if you're the death of me first."

Edward glowered, "Not. Now."

I smirked, "Okay, okay, but I'm not giving up."

He sighed, and mumbled something incoherent; something about my stubbornness, I assumed.

"Hey, do you know what Alice saw that is making her so giddy?" I asked, as I realized she had left. I still wasn't used to this vampire speed thing.

He shook his head, "She's been like that around me the whole trip. You can't _imagine _how annoying it was getting."

I chuckled, "I guess we'll know soon, huh?"

He nodded, "So what are we planning to do today?" he asked, "On your last day of summer."

"I only have until six," I warned him, "So maybe we could just hang out here?"

"That sounds fine," he said, "But why six?"

"Well, Billy and Jacob Black are coming to dinner tonight." I grimaced; he wasn't going to like this. The Blacks and the Cullens did not get along at all. After all, it was Jacob who had originally told me the legends about the 'cold ones.'

He growled, "Perfect…" he sneered.

"Edward, it's okay. They can't do anything to convince me you're bad for me." I placed my hand in his. "You never have to worry about that."

He sighed and muttered something about them being right and pulled me inside. I decided to let it go, even though he was wrong. We didn't need a fight today.


	2. Poor Child

**Sorry the update took so long guys, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to happen in this chapter, but last night I went babysitting, and this idea came to me. So, here's the next update.**

We walked inside the beautiful mansion, hand in hand. Alice and Jasper were watching some movie, too involved to acknowledge us. Noticing this, Edward gently tugged my hand towards the stairs. I shrugged, and followed as my love led me up the winding staircase all the way to the top floor, and down to the last door in the hall; his room, naturally.

I immediately flopped backwards onto his couch. He, for some reason, was amused by the way I seated myself, and he chuckled before he came over to sit with me. He sat down next to me, resting his arm behind me. I laid my head on his shoulder, and smiled, comfortable with our position.

"It's funny isn't it…" he said, "…how things turn out."

I looked up at him, eyes filled with curiosity. "What are you babbling about?"

He chuckled, "I never thought I'd be this close to you," he said, his voice thoughtful.

I smiled, thinking about how right he was. "God, I hated you!" I burst out laughing. "You were so annoying, one minute you were talking to me, the next, you hated me. Of course, then you turn around and do something like save my life."

He laughed, and kissed the top of my head. "And, now…?"

"You know I love you," I smiled, "With all my heart."

His lopsided smile brightened the room, "You are my life now," he said simply.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the sudden ringing of my cell phone interrupted me. Over the summer, Edward had insisted on getting me a cell phone, 'just in case.' Of course, being Edward, he had to get me the most expensive phone possible.

"Your pocket is ringing," he announced chuckling.

"Oh, is that what that was?" I said sarcastically. I pulled the slim Razor out of my pocket, checked the caller ID, and flipped open the phone. "Hey Jess."

Edward rolled his eyes; he didn't like her all that much. Her mind was too 'simple' apparently, whatever that meant.

"Oh, that's great Jess!" I said, as excitedly as possible, she had just been asked out again by Mike, maybe he had finally gotten over me. She went on to tell me that she had a date on Saturday with him, but her parents wanted her to watch her little sister, and she wanted me to baby-sit for her.

"Saturday? Well, I actually have plans with Edward," I lied. I hadn't had too much experience with kids, I was an only child, and so was my mother. No siblings or cousins to practice motherly skills with. Besides, with my klutzy nature, I'd probably drop the poor thing.

"Oh Bella, please?" she begged, "Bring Cullen if you have to, I really don't want to blow this with Mike."

"Bring him?" I asked. I glanced up at Edward, who was looking at me curiously.

'What?' he mouthed.

'Baby-sitting...' I mouthed back.

He laughed quietly, and shrugged. "You'd probably drop the kid," he whispered. Ugh, he knew me all too well. Suddenly though, I was overcome with the urge to prove him wrong.

"Sure Jess, what time?" I asked. "…Seven? Sure Jess. I'll see you at school tomorrow… yeah, bye." I slammed the phone shut.

Edward looked at me incredulously, "I cannot believe you just did that," he breathed, "Poor helpless child."

I gaped at him, and smacked his arm. "You're mean."

"I'm not the one who is going to kill an innocent baby on Saturday." He smirked.

I didn't say anything; I just glowered, and scooted away from him.

"Oh, Bella, you're such a baby." He chuckled.

"Calling me a baby isn't going to get me to scoot back over." I glared at him, playfully this time, almost teasingly.

"Bella, what am I going to do with you?" he laughed quietly, "I'm sorry, I'll come on Saturday."

I still didn't move.

He sighed, "I love you?"

I smiled in victory, and slid back over, resuming our previous position. "I love you too."

He ruffled my hair lovingly, and kissed my cheek. "That's my girl."

We sat like that, talking about nothing in particular, until about five-thirty, when Edward decided it was time to drive me home, to avoid any confrontation with the Blacks.

"I'll see you tonight," he promised, as I climbed out of his shiny Volvo.

I smiled, "Tonight," I confirmed. He sped off the minute I slammed his door shut. I was surprised by his haste, until I turned around and saw Jacob pull up behind me, and into the driveway. _Early, of course, _I thought to myself, slightly annoyed.

I took a deep breath, swallowed by doubt, and approached the Blacks. "Hey Jacob, great to see you again," I said smiling. It surprised me at first when I realized I wasn't lying.

Billy wheeled his way to my side, and smiled up at me. "Hello Bella."

"Hey there, Billy," I greeted, heading towards the door. "Come on in guys,"


	3. Pessimisim

**-In annoying announcer voice- Last time on Star-Crossed…**

_After waking up on a Sunday morning, Bella decides she is going to stop by the Cullens, since they were supposed to return from a hunting trip that morning. Of course, she is greeted by Alice who is a little more exuberant then usual. Bella assumes it was due to a vision, but Alice refused to tell her what it was about. Edward then tells Bella that Alice had been chipper like that all weekend. After talking for a while, Bella gets a call from Jessica, asking her to baby-sit her little sister, while she was on a date with Mike. After Edward made fun of her, saying she'd probably drop the kid, she agreed to the job, just to prove Edward wrong. Then Bella goes home to have dinner with her father and the Blacks.  
_

_

* * *

_

I held open the door, as Jacob and his father made their way inside, and into the kitchen. "The Blacks are here, dad." I called, as I made my way into the living room. I decided to make lasagna, since it would occupy a lot of time, and would help me avoid any awkward conversation.

I heard Billy and Charlie start talking about sports, as usual. They were saying something about how pathetic the Dolphins were in their last game. Were the Dolphins basketball, or football? They weren't baseball. That much I knew. I spread out the supplies on the counter, as I pondered this. Hmm, maybe they were hockey?

I heard Jacob enter the room. Oh boy, here we go. "Hey Bella,"

"Hey Jacob," I said, digging through drawers, searching for some ricotta cheese. "How are things?"

"Great," he replied. I didn't need to see his face to know he was smiling. "What about you? What's new?"

"Nothing really," I replied, conversationally, continuing to dig, but not finding anything. "Crap, we're out of cheese." I slammed the refrigerator door, and grabbed my keys off the counter.

"Oh, I'll go get it," Jacob offered, smiling brightly. He was really sweet. I probably should treat him better. There was a time when I thought that he could easily be a good friend of mine.

"Thanks Jake," I said brightly, "But I can go, after all, you can keep up with the guys and sports a lot better then I can." I chuckled.

He nodded, "Probably so," he chuckled as well. "I'll keep them entertained."

"Thanks Jake," I grinned, and dashed out the door.

* * *

I started driving towards the small store where we got all our groceries, but was stopped in my tracks due to a major car accident. A car accident in Forks, on a little road, not even on a highway; how is that possible?

From what I could make out, there was a very large moving truck had crushed a small car into a tree. The small car had hit the tree from the side, and it must had been hit very hard, as the car was practically wrapped around the tree. I frowned in sympathy; there was no way that the driver of the small car could have survived. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the car, to see if it was one I recognized. I instantly regretted it. I felt my heart speed up, as I fought a scream. The small car was a silver, shiny, Volvo.

"Edward," I breathed.

_No, no, no, NO!_ It couldn't be Edward's car. Edward never, ever, crashed. I pulled over, and rested my forehead against the steering wheel, feeling the tears burning in my eyes. He was a vampire; he couldn't die, could he? Oh, but he could, they killed James! Oh God. What if…

NO! He got away. He had to have gotten away somehow. He must have run out, with that super speed of his. Yes. Edward was fine, he could run. _But could he run at 120 miles an hour?_

STOP IT! I banged my head against the steering wheel. Damn that pessimistic voice! Then it happened. I heard a bang, and my head snapped to the Volvo, and I watched it as the car burst into flames. I couldn't stop the scream this time, as the loud piercing noise escaped my lips. There was no way now. If he hadn't gotten out before, he was gone now.

I pulled my knees to my chest, and hugged them close to me, sobbing. I had to go to the Cullens. I couldn't let myself believe he was gone, until I saw it myself. I had to tell Charlie first, though. I dropped my knees, and pulled off the curb, and sped off to Charlie's house.

When I walked in, I felt four pairs of concerned eyes on me. It must have been obvious that I was upset.

"Bella…" Charlie called softly. "What's wrong? Have you been crying?"

I nodded, "There's—there's been an accident." I managed to say, before starting to sob again. Jacob immediately walked over to comfort me. He pulled me into a hug, and I gratefully sobbed into his shoulder. I didn't care; it's all that I could do.

"What happened?" he asked, patting my back.

"Edward," I whispered.

"What?" Billy asked, intrigued. Although he didn't sound concerned at all.

"His car," I murmured, "He got into an accident—I saw it."

"Oh Bella," Jacob said, his voice dripping with concern.

"I have to go see the Cullens," I announced. Jacob let go, offering a small smile. I weakly returned it, and spun around towards the door. I had to know if it was true.

If it _was_ true, my life as I knew it, was over.

* * *

**Shabang! Cliffhanger! Teehee, remember New Moon never happened, so the whole, 'the only way to kill a vampire is to tear him to pieces and burn the body' thing never happened. So, for all you know, I could have just killed Edward. Bwhaha. Guess you'll find out next chapter! **

**It will be up very soon, I promise. XD**

**-- Kiwi**


	4. Dead?

**Recap: (The bolded stuff is new)**

_After waking up on a Sunday morning, Bella decides she is going to stop by the Cullens, since they were supposed to return from a hunting trip that morning. Of course, she is greeted by Alice who is a little more exuberant then usual. Bella assumes it was due to a vision, but Alice refused to tell her what it was about. Edward then tells Bella that Alice had been chipper like that all weekend. After talking for a while, Bella gets a call from Jessica, asking her to baby-sit her little sister, while she was on a date with Mike. After Edward made fun of her, saying she'd probably drop the kid, she agreed to the job, just to prove Edward wrong. Then Bella goes home to have dinner with her father and the Blacks. **Realizing that she had no cheese, Bella jumped into the car to pick some up from a store. On her way though, a traffic jam caused by a fatal car accident stopped her. After looking closely, she realizes that the mangled car involved was Edward's Volvo. Not knowing if vampires can die or not, she rushes to the Cullens, praying that her love is alive.**_

* * *

I pulled into the Cullen's driveway in record time. Well, record time for my old geezer of a truck. I cut the engine, and hopped out, quickly making my way to the door, knocking on it, hands still shaking. I needed Edward to be there. I needed to feel his cold, stone-like arms around me. I needed him to be alright. If vampires could die, and I had lost Edward forever, I didn't know what I would do.

The door swung open, and Alice pulled me into a sisterly hug. Oh no. "Edward," I stammered, getting right to the point, "Where is he?"

Alice frowned, and pulled me inside. "You saw the crash site." It wasn't a question.

I'm pretty sure my heart stopped. She was frowning. If he was okay, wouldn't she be laughing at my unnecessary concern? "Yes." I said; my voice still shaky.

She didn't say anything right away. That scared me. She was still looking at me, with that frown still plastered across her face.

"Oh no Alice," my voice didn't even sound like my own, it has raised an octave, and was still trembling. "Alice, just tell me where he is. He is here right? Oh God Alice, a car crash can't kill a vampire can it?" My voice raised another octave, sounding as if I were on the verge of hysterics. "I mean, you killed James, so it has to be possible, but…" I trailed off; I couldn't bear to say the words. "It's not that easy, is it?"

Alice sighed, pulling me into another hug. "Calm down, Bella." She was rubbing my back soothingly, and it was rather comforting. I never realized how sisterly she was. But did she really expect me to calm down?

"Calm down," I breathed, "How can I calm down, when you won't answer my question?"

"He's okay Bella," she said. "It's not that easy."

I only responded by squeezing her tighter, and sobbing into her shoulder.

"He's in his room," she said, releasing her hold on me, and I let go of her in return. I wiped away my tears, and smiled weakly at her, in appreciation. She smiled back, ruffling my hair slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered. "I keep forgetting you're only human, that there are still a few things you don't know."

I nodded, "It's alright," I patted her shoulder, "Thanks Alice." And with that, I dashed up the stairs as quickly as I could, of course tripping once or twice. The second I saw his door, I dashed inside.

Edward was sitting, cross-legged, on his couch, his head buried in his hands. The second he heard me, or smelled me, he glanced at me, frowning at my sullen appearance.

At the sight of him, I practically leaped into his lap, and hid my face in his shoulder. In return, he wrapped his arms around my waist. I inhaled into his neck, breathing in his scent, too beautiful for any cologne to capture. A few tears escaped my eyes, and fell softly to his shoulder. "I thought I lost you," I murmured after a moment.

He shook his head, and kissed my hair. "A simple car accident isn't going to hurt me," he seemed almost amused at my ignorance.

"A simple accident?" I exclaimed, pulling away, only far enough away to see his face. "Your car was wrapped around a tree, and then it exploded! That's not simple!"

He winced. "It exploded?" he asked. "Poor Volvo…"

I smacked his arm, "Poor Volvo?" I asked, my tone serious, "I see my boyfriend's car, crashed into a tree, then watch it explode, and think that I lost him forever, and you're saying poor Volvo? The pain the Volvo was going through certainly wasn't on the top of my fears list."

"Oh, Bella…" he pulled me into his chest. "I didn't know that you had seen the accident, if I had, I would have called, _at least_. I thought you were eating with the Blacks?"

I sighed, "I was making lasagna, and we were out of cheese. I had to run to the store, and there was quite a traffic jam. When I saw your car, I didn't know what to think. I didn't know if vampires could die like that. I told Charlie, and then drove here as fast as I could. I didn't want to believe it, but the back of my mind was telling me to."

"Silly Bella," he squeezed me gently, "Vampires aren't that easily killed." I saw him smirk, but then his face was suddenly serious. He picked me up bridal style, and carried me down the stairs, sitting me on the couch. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were sitting in the living room, their eyes glued to the news on the giant screen TV.

"…_the accident caused a large traffic jam, as well." _The woman anchor announced, _"The driver of the moving truck is in Forks general hospital, and is in critical condition. The driver of the Volvo however, has been pronounced dead. The carnage of the accident destroyed the car, and there are no traces of the young driver's body. Edward Cullen, a senior at Forks high, was seventeen years old."_

Although Edward was sitting next to me, his arm draped around my shoulders, I couldn't help but shudder at the announcer's words, as the whole Cullen family, and myself, gaped at the screen.

"We have to leave," a male voice suddenly said from behind us. I turned my head to see Carlisle and Esme standing behind us. "There's no way that Edward could just pop out unscathed."

"And where would we go?" Rosalie snapped. "Good going Edward, now we have to leave because you couldn't keep your eyes on the road."

Edward glowered, "Be quiet Rosalie," he retorted, "I don't see you following the laws of the road."

"Rosalie is right about one thing though," Alice piped in, trying to avoid the fight. "Where would we go? The weather here is perfect, where else can we go where the sun never shines?"

Rosalie snorted, "Why don't we just stay here, and grieve our dear brother," she eyed Edward rudely. "Why should we have to suffer because he's an irresponsible driver?"

Jasper rolled his eyes, "Rosalie, shut up," he said, "It's not Edward's fault. He was hit, remember?"

Emmett punched his arm, not with his full strength, but not playfully either. "Don't you talk to my wife like that. Besides, if Alice would have warned us, this would have never happened." He shot Alice a rude look.

Alice's jaw dropped, "So you're blaming this on me?" she sneered humorlessly.

"You bet," Emmett retorted menacingly.

Jasper jumped up, "Hey, you can't talk to her like that either." He yelled at Emmett.

"Enough!" Carlisle boomed, silencing the room. I had never seen him this angry. I had never even really seen him yell. He was always so calm, and collected. "It was an accident, no one is at fault."

Esme sighed, "You should all just be happy that Edward is okay," she said sweetly, laying a hand on Edward's shoulder. That was Esme alright, always concerned and motherly.

"I second that," I agreed. Edward chuckled, and pulled me closer, and Rosalie glared at me.

"I suppose that wherever we go, _she_ will be coming?" she asked, venom dripping from every word, she glowered at me again, and I had to look away from her beautiful, intense eyes.

Edward growled, "Yes," he sneered. "As long as she wants to, of course." He added lightly, eyeing me.

I gave him a 'are you crazy' look, "I told you, I will always want to be where you are." I smiled, "Wherever that may be."

Alice beamed, "Good answer," she received a glare from Rosalie, but no one else seemed opposed to me tagging along. I smiled at the reaction I got from the Cullens. Everyone but Rosalie wanted me to be a part of their family.

He smiled, satisfied with the response from his family and me, and turned to Carlisle. "Where, might I ask, will it be?"

He sighed, "Denali." He replied, "The only other place that has weather like Forks is in Oregon, that's way too close to here. Denali is the only other perfect place."

Rosalie snorted, "Great, just great." She rolled her eyes. "Now we have to go back to being Eskimos."

Alice sighed, "Rosalie, stop complaining. You and Emmett can stay here if you'd like."

"Fine," she snapped, "Emmett and I can stay here. You guys go move across the country."

Emmett groaned, "Hey, I want to go." He replied, frowning at his wife "I happen to like Denali, and I want to stay with the family." He offered me a friendly look. "All of it."

Rosalie growled, "Fine then, I'm going to go pack, but—"she shot me a glare,"—don't expect me to have any family bonding with _her"_ She snapped her head around, and darted up the stairs, to her bedroom. She hated me. I didn't get it, what did I ever do to her?


	5. Moving On

Edward pulled me on his lap, "I'm sorry about her," he sighed.

"She'll warm up to you eventually," Jasper said, "She'll have to."

"I'll talk to her," Emmett added, "If I can't get her to like you yet, I'll try to at least make her play nice." He offered me one more smile, and headed upstairs to comfort his wife.

"Thanks guys," I said, eyeing Emmett, and smiling, "I think of you guys as family too. And I'm glad you want me to come, and I want to, but what about Charlie?"

The truth was, Alaska was, and never would be, my first choice. But that's where Edward was going to be, and I don't think I could handle him leaving me, especially not to a far away region like Alaska. What would I tell Charlie though?

"Tell him that you need to get away for a while," Carlisle explained, "Tell him that since Edward is gone, you're going to spend some extra time with the Cullens, and we all need to get out of this town for a while."

Edward shook his head, "There's no way Charlie would go for that."

I nodded, "No way in hell," I chuckled.

"You could just, run away." Alice suggested, "And once we get settled, you can call him, and tell him you're safe with me. Or better yet, send him a letter without a return address, that way he can't come find us, but he'll know you're safe."

Jasper frowned, he was obviously feeling the anxiety that I was feeling. I felt a wave of calm wash over me, and I have to say it made me feel a lot better. I looked up and smiled at him, and he just nodded.

I took in a deep breath, "When do we leave?"

Carlisle pondered this for a moment. "We'll wait about a week," he replied, "The kids will go to school, so the students and faculty can see the repercussions of Edward's death. Then we can leave. The students can assume that Bella couldn't handle things at school, and she dropped out. We'll enroll at a school in Denali, and Bella will graduate there."

We all nodded, that made sense. They'd probably also assume that I moved in with the Cullens, but I really didn't mind about that.

"Will we be staying with the vegetarian coven there?" I asked, my voice hopeful. I wanted to meet more of Edward's kind.

"No!" Alice snapped. We all eyed her curiously. She stood in the center of the living room now, with her index, and middle fingers pressing against her temples. "Bad idea, very bad idea."

Esme made a face, "Why dear?" She moved from behind the couch, concernedly stepping closer towards her daughter.

Jasper immediately jolted to her side, holding her from behind, his chin resting softly on the top of her head. "What did you see?"

"A young teenage boy," she explained, "He was dying, and Tanya changed him. He's not ready for a human to be living anywhere near him. If we stayed with them, Bella would… well, it'd just be awful."

Jasper soothingly moved his hands up and down Alice's arms, "We'll have to get our own place then, we can't have a repeat of last year."

I shuddered involuntarily, images of James, Victoria, and Laurent flying into my mind. Edward sensed this and squeezed me tighter, kissing my hair. The images floated away at his touch. "I can't lose Bella like that Carlisle; you'll just have to explain that to the coven. They will understand."

He nodded. "I'll go give them a call," he smiled softly at us, and left the room, towards his office upstairs.

"I should take Bella home," Alice said, looking up to softly kiss Jasper goodbye. "Charlie is probably wondering where she is."

"He knows where I am." I sighed, "But you're right, I should probably get home, to explain that Edward… well, lie to him about Edward."

I felt Edward nod, as he dropped his arms from me, and I stood up. He was right behind me, and he pulled me into a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow. Alice will bring you here after school."

I nodded distantly. "It's not going to be easy," I whispered.

"Just remember that I'm fine Bella," he ran his hands up and down my back soothingly. "It will get easier, I promise."

"Come on Bella," Alice cooed sweetly, and I pulled away from Edward, and followed her out the door. Before walking out the door, I turned my head to see a frowning Edward.

------------

We pulled into the driveway of Charlie's house, to see that the Blacks, thankfully, had left. Alice and I hopped out of my truck, and headed towards the door.

Before we left, Alice had applied too much blush to her pale face, to create the illusion that she had been crying. The natural dark circles under her eyes also added to the false impression. After all, she couldn't very well look like her normal beautiful self, as if nothing was wrong.

I pulled the door open, and entered the living room. Charlie was sitting on the couch. Although the news was on softly in the background he didn't seem like he was really paying attention. He saw Alice and I, and frowned.

"I'm so sorry," he said. I felt terrible lying to him about something this huge, but it had to be done. "I saw the news." His eyebrows furrowed, his forehead wrinkling in the process.

"Thank you Mr. Swan," Alice replied, offering a weak smile. Wow, she really looked sad. At least one of us was a good actress. "I just wanted to bring Bella home, and apologize for being late."

"Thank you Alice," he said stepping closer to us, and offering a small smile as well. "And please, call me Charlie."

"Alright Charlie," she smiled, "I'm going to get back now." She hugged me softly, and frowned at me. "Bella, I know how much you loved my brother. Just know that if you ever need to talk, I loved him too."

"Thanks Alice." She really needed to take up acting. I wondered if she had ever taken drama.

With that, she was gone. It was only Charlie and I now.

"Bella…I" he began, but I cut him off.

"I know Dad," I frowned. "I just want to go to bed, alright? I really can't talk about it yet."

He nodded sadly, "Okay Bella, I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Goodnight Dad," I said, turning and walking upstairs. I was sure that tonight was the worst night of my entire life. This next week will probably be even worse. I sighed heavily, and opened my door. Thankfully, Edward's open arms were waiting for me.

* * *

**Eep. I really don't like that chapter all that much.**

**Something about it bothers me a little. Ah well, review?**


	6. Acting

I woke up the next morning, Edward lying next to me peacefully. His eyes were closed. If I didn't know better, I'd say that he was sleeping. I chuckled, and sat up.

"Morning Eddie," I said, kissing his nose.

For some reason, he didn't move. His lips didn't even twitch into that smirk that he almost was always wearing.

I pushed his shoulder, "Come on Edward. Get up." I rolled my eyes. "I know better, you're not sleeping." I looked back down on him, and noticed that he wasn't breathing either.

"Edward?" I shook his shoulder, "Stop it! You're scaring me." Edward still didn't move. "Edward, I do not like this joke at all, do you see me laughing? No, you don't."

"EDWARD!" I screamed. I let my head fall down on his chest, and started sobbing. "No, Edward! Please wake up!" I sobbed into his chest.

Suddenly, I felt his cold arms wrap around me, and he was shaking me softly. "Bella, Bella wake up, you're having a nightmare."

His voice broke through my dream, and I jumped back in surprise, landing on the floor with a 'thud.'

I was lying on my back, on the floor, when I blinked myself into reality. I sat up quickly, and practically leaped into Edward's arms, as he sat on the bed, looking at me, confused.

"Bella…?"

I buried my head in his shoulder. "I had a dream, I had a dream that you really did die. Edward, it was bad, it was so real!"

He ran his cold hand up and down my back, giving me goose bumps. "It's okay Bella, I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

I just nodded into his shoulder.

"You however, need to get ready for school," he said, standing up, with me still cradled close to him. He stood me in front of the closet. "Wear something black," he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, and smacked his arm. "This is not funny, at all, mister."

He sighed, "Just go get ready, Bella."

I pulled a long sleeved black sweater out of my closet, and dark blue jeans. I grabbed my toiletries off my dresser, and gave Edward one last glare, and disappeared into the bathroom.

I took a quick shower, and got dressed. Then I brushed my teeth, and slipped my long, wet hair into a high ponytail. After all, who was I trying to impress? After all, didn't my boyfriend just die? I shuddered at the thought. _No, he didn't. It's only pretend._

I walked out of my bathroom, and back into my bedroom, where Edward was sitting in my rocking chair. "Charlie hasn't left yet," he said, "I have to go. Alice is on her way to pick you up with Rosalie and the others."

I sighed, and he stood up, wrapping me in his arms. "Just remember that I will be home when you get there," he reminded me, before disappearing, leaving behind my open window. I strolled over to shut it, before walking down the stairs.

Charlie was gulping down the last of his coffee. "Good morning, Bells." He said, frowning at me. "How are you feeling this morning?"

I sighed, "Fine," I looked at the clock, and I heard a _beep, _Alice and the others were here to take me to school. "I gotta go dad, Alice is taking me to school."

Charlie nodded, "I'll see you tonight Bella,"

"I'm going to the Cullens after school today," I told him, on my way out. "We have some… funeral plans to work out." I lied, wincing.

Charlie nodded, "Alright Bells," he sighed, "Just don't be too late."

I nodded, and hurried to the car. There was a spot in the back open, next to Alice, and I got in, giving her a weak smile. Rosalie was driving, and Emmett was in the front with her. Jasper was on the left side in the back, Alice was in the middle and the right seat was now being occupied by me.

"How was your morning?" Alice asked, looking at me sympathetically.

I shook my head, and looked absentmindedly to my left, where if this wasn't a convertible, my window would be. "Don't ask," I muttered, as Rosalie pulled away, and drove off to the school.

---------------

That day had to be the worst day of my life. Everyone was constantly hugging me, telling me that things would be alright. Even people I didn't know very well gave me their condolences. But Mike, Mike was the worst.

He was in my English class this year, and he sat down right next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "If there's anything I can do for you…"

I sighed, and said the first thing that came to mind. "Can you bring Edward back to me?"

"If I could Bella," he said, shaking his head softly, "I would."

I sighed, _that was good Bella, _I silently patted myself on the back for that one. _And he said you couldn't act._

The rest of the day went just like that; I used that line a few times. I'd heard it in sappy movies, and it seemed to work in real life too. Whoever you say it too, says pretty much exactly what Mike said, and leaves you alone. The perfect line.

Alice met me at my locker, and walked with me to the car, where Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were already waiting.

"If one more person tells me that they're sorry for my loss, I think I'll kill them," Rosalie growled, hopping in the driver's seat.

The rest of us piled in, and Alice insisted that I buckled up.

"Wait a second," I said, as Rosalie sped out of the parking lot. "People actually talked to you guys today? Aren't people usually too intimidated to talk to you, or whatever?"

Emmett laughed, "Usually,"

Alice snickered, "Apparently we have a few exceptions."

I blushed, and looked back out at the trees that were now speeding by, not having a comment for that one.

"I think they thought talking to me, and giving me condolences would give them flirting rights in the future," Rosalie mused, "Like it would make me like them a bit more, and I wouldn't slap them if they tried to hit on me later."

Emmett growled, but everyone else laughed. "Did it work?" Jasper teased.

Emmett growled again quietly, and Rosalie laughed. "No, not even close."

"Good," Emmett snapped, looking at the trees the same way I did, only in scorn, instead of embarrassment.

We pulled into the Cullen's driveway, and Edward was already waiting for me, sitting in the grass. Thrilled to see him, I swung open the door of the car, and made an attempt to run to him, but I had forgotten about my seatbelt, and I ended up being pulled back, hard, knocking the wind out of me.

Everyone laughed, especially Rosalie, who snickered a 'Good job,' before sauntering inside. Alice just giggled, and Emmett and Jasper ran inside before they started laughing too hard, in an attempt not to offend me.

I blushed, bright red, and undid my seatbelt, before walking carefully to Edward, and sitting cross-legged in front of him, nonchalantly. "Hello."

The corners of his lips were twitching, as he tried to fight back the laughter. "Hello." He said, before he lost it, and burst out laughing. I glared at him, and he made himself stop. "Sorry," he snickered.

"It's not funny," I whined.

He snorted, "No, no, of course not."

I rolled my eyes, and looked away, hiding my embarrassment from his beautiful intense eyes.

"How was your day?" he asked kindheartedly.

"Awful," I replied, "Everyone kept staring at me pitifully. It was dreadful. I almost started to believe that you weren't going to be here when I got back, like the whole Denali thing was a dream, and you really had died. Then I decided that was ridiculous, but I still couldn't help but think about what had happened if you did…"

He brushed his lips against mine to stop me, "Bella," he breathed, pulling me in his lap. "Don't think like that, I'm here, remember? You weren't dreaming, I'm not going anywhere."

I snuggled into his chest, laying my head on his shoulder, "I still couldn't stop thinking about it though. If you would have died, I don't know how I would have handled it."

He kissed the top of my hair, "Stop thinking about things like that," he said, smiling kindly. "That's not going to happen."

I sighed, and closed my eyes, inhaling his scent. "I don't know if I can do this for a whole week,"

I heard someone walk behind us, and sigh. "You won't have to, we're leaving tonight."


	7. Realization

"Tonight…?" I sputtered, jumping back off Edward's lap, and looking up at the body behind me.

The figure sat down next to Edward, and I saw that it was Alice. "We leave tonight."

Edward looked at her nervously, and then his eyes darted to meet mine. I couldn't read his expression. It was carefully hidden by that mask he often put up. His eyes moved back to Alice, as he turned to her completely now, his entire body faced hers, almost in a panicked way.

"Are you sure?" he demanded.

Alice nodded gravely, "I'm positive."

"When did you see this?" he asked. I hadn't seen Edward this scared before. Not since…

Realization hit me then. There was another. Someone else was after me. Another one of his kind, no doubt. I watched them helplessly, as they continued to talk to one another through their minds. They did it in an attempt not to alarm me, but not knowing what was going to happen scared me even more.

Edward pulled me back into his arms, holding me tightly. He snuggled into my neck, breathing in deeply. I could feel his ice cold breath on my neck.

"What's…what's going on?" I asked, terrified. I couldn't help the images of James and Laurent, and Victoria flying into my head any longer. It was going to happen again.

"Nothing," Edward growled, "Nothing is going to happen, because I won't let it happen."

"Alice," I said, still held tightly in Edward's arms. His face still buried in my neck. I let my chin rest on the top of his head. "What isn't going to happen, then?"

"The others," she replied grimly, "The others in James' coven. Laurent, and the redhead, they're back. They want revenge for James. I can't imagine why, I guess it must be a loyalty thing."

I shuddered, and Edward pulled away, to look into my eyes. "Nothing is going to happen to you," he said, taking my face in his marble hands. "I am not going to let anything hurt you."

I was unable to move. I wasn't sure if it was his touch, or the pure, unadulterated fear that coursed through me. I was sure it was some sort of mixture of the two.

"Alice," Edward said, dropping his hands from my face. "Tell the rest of the family that we're leaving," he looked up at the sky, observing the time. "We'll be gone by twilight."

Alice nodded, and disappeared into the mansion. I looked up at Edward, questions burning in my eyes. What about my clothes? What about the rest of my stuff? What would I tell Charlie?

Edward shook his head, "We don't have time," he said. Although he couldn't read my mind, he knew me well enough to know. "It's like Alice said, you'll mail him once you're safe."

"What if they go after him?" I asked, "To hurt me?"

"They don't want to hurt you," he sighed, taking my hand, and absentmindedly drawing circles in my palm. "They want to hurt me, for killing James."

I winced, "And killing me…" I trailed off.

"Would kill me," he finished, shaking his head, tousling his messy locks in the process. "We have to get you out of here."

He pulled me off his lap to stand up, and offered me his hand. I took it gratefully, and he pulled me on to my feet. He kept my hand entwined with his, and walked inside his home, and up the stairs to his room.

I immediately fell backwards onto the couch, and he walked to his closet, pulling out a small duffel bag, and he became a blur to me, tossing a bunch of clothes into it at vampire speed.

"Oh, you get to pack?" I smirked.

He rolled his eyes, "You can go shopping with Alice once we get there."

I groaned, "Great. Now I have vampires wanting to kill me, and I have to go _shopping_."

"Oh hush you," he joked, tossing a pair of pants, and an old t-shirt of his at me. "I want to try and hide your scent again. Just in case they find out we're leaving, and try to follow us."

My eyes widened, "You realize these are going to be a bit big, don't you?"

"Just go change Bella."

"Couldn't I wear something of Alice's?" I asked.

"No," he said, sighing due to exasperation. "Her belongings smell like her, if you were to wear them, when I hold you, it would be like holding Alice. That would be… strange."

I nodded in understanding, "Right then, I'll go change."

There was a bathroom on the other side of the room, and I strolled inside, shutting the door behind me. I stripped of my jeans, and the black sweater, and replaced them with his sweat pants and t-shirt. I instantly regretted any complaining. Yes, the clothes were huge on me, but the stretch waist on the pants kept them from falling down, and I was insanely comfortable. The clothes smelled like him too. I inhaled the scent, Edward's scent, the intoxicating fragrance that not even the most sweet-smelling cologne could capture.

I stepped out, and Edward smiled at me.

"No laughing," I blushed, looking away from his entrancing smile.

"I'm not laughing," he said, but when I looked back at him, the corners of his lips were twitching upwards into my favorite crooked smile.

"Let's just go," I pouted, which made him smile even wider.

I walked towards the door, but Edward grabbed my waist, pulling me back into his granite chest. "Bella," he said softly.

"Edward," I said in the same tone, leaning my head back on his shoulder.

He chuckled, and kissed the top of my head. "Why aren't you scared?" he asked. "You should be terrified right now."

I shrugged, and lifted my head, turning it upward slightly to look at him. "You're here," I said simply, "I feel safe any time you're with me,"

He shook his head, dropping his arms from my waist, but taking my hand instead. "You shouldn't, you know."

I rolled my eyes, pulling him towards the door. "Let's not get all melodramatic here, alright?"

"Whatever you say Bella," he sighed.

--------------------------------------

Edward had made sure that the groups were organized carefully, just in case the others knew we were leaving. Edward promised to stay with me this time. He would always be with me. We separated into two groups. Edward, Jasper, Alice and I took the Vanquish, and Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme took Carlisle's Mercedes.

Carlisle had a house in Denali already, in case something happened, and if they didn't leave permanently, they would be exposed. Something like one of them being pronounced dead, for example.

I felt awful, leaving Charlie without a word, and I almost felt like I would miss Forks. This green place had become my home, and I ended up loving it here. Then again, the reason that I loved this town was coming with me. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, living in Alaska. Edward would be there, and so would Alice, and I'd be safe from Victoria and Laurent, at least for a little while.

'_Now leaving Forks'_

I couldn't help but feel excitement when I saw those words. My new life was about to begin.

* * *

**Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Winter Solstice, or whatever you could possibly celebrate. And if you don't celebrate anything, well then, Happy Day. **


	8. Starting Over

**Merry Christmas everyone!**

**As a present, I'm going to update twice today. Actually, that's more because I'm just in a writing mood then for you, but that's okay. XD**

* * *

The drive from Forks to Denali was simple with a vampire driving. Alice drove, while Jasper sat in the passenger seat. Edward and I had the backseat, where I slept for most of the drive, Edward holding me as close as he could. For someone who was so sure that nothing was going to happen, he was certainly clingy.

I vaguely noticed us slowing down a great deal, when Edward started softly shaking my arm. "Bella darling," he cooed, "We're here,"

My eyes fluttered open, and I sat up straight. "Already…?" I asked, wiping my eyes with my fists, much like a tired child would.

He chuckled at my dazed state, and opened the door, for us to get out. I unbuckled my seatbelt, and Edward pulled me out of the car, cradling me in his arms. He didn't set me down when we got out of the car. "Go back to sleep Bella," he said softly, walking towards the front door.

I tried to protest, but I felt myself already drifting in his arms. I didn't even get to see the house, before dozing back into unconsciousness.

When I woke up again, I was lying in a very cozy bed, snuggled in a white down comforter. I blinked a few times, before sitting up, propping myself up with my arms behind my back. I looked beside me, and Edward was smiling at me. I returned the smile, as my body adjusted to actually being awake.

"Good morning," he said, ruffling my already messy bed-head hair.

I yawned, a usual reflex to just waking up. "Morning," I sighed. I looked around our new room, and automatically decided that I liked it. The floor was covered in a white plush carpet that looked as soft as snow. The walls were painted a very soft brown color, almost a tan. There was a wooden oak dresser across from the bed, and our own personal bathroom on the left side. On the right side was a huge walk in closet, which was probably already filled with Edward's things, because of his nonexistent sleeping habits. The bed itself was also the soft oak color, and was in the sleigh bed style, with a small piano bench like chair at the foot, in front of the curving foot-board.

"Our new room," he announced, gesturing with an open palm to the air. "Do you like it?"

I tried to hide the delight I got when he titled the place, 'our room.' I was living with Edward. That both scared me, and thrilled me.

"I love it," I replied, smiling.

Edward seemed pleased by this, and he leaned closer to me, kissing me softly on the cheek. "Get ready," he told me, "We've got school today."

I groaned, and fell backwards onto my back. "What time is it?"

"Eight," he replied, "We've got an hour before we have to leave."

I sighed, and threw my legs over the side of the bed. I went to place my feet on the floor, but the bed was a lot higher then I anticipated, and I ended up falling flat on the white posh carpeting.

"Hello floor, nice to meet you," I muttered, placing my palms flat on the floor, and pushing myself onto my knees. I stood up, and turned around to see Edward laughing hysterically at my clumsy nature.

He pointed to a small stepstool on the side of the floor that I completely missed, and chuckled. "Sorry Bella, I guess I should have warned you about that."

I rolled my eyes, "That would have been a good idea." I said, with a groan.

"Sorry," he grumbled.

"What do I wear?" I asked suddenly, remembering that we hadn't gotten the chance to grab any of my clothing.

Edward smirked, "Go ask Alice," he replied, "I'm sure that she'll have something that will fit you."

I grimaced. "Must I?"

"Yes," he pointed at the door, where Alice was already standing.

"Come on Bella," she said, "I got plenty of stuff that you can wear. Don't worry; I won't make you wear anything you don't like."

I sighed, that I doubted very much. Alice and I had very different senses of style. I was simple, and I wore t-shirts with jeans and uncomplicated things like that. Alice wore dresses, and skirts, and blouses. She was flashy, and I was plain. The odds of her having something I would actually buy for myself were very low.

But I found myself following her down the hall into her room anyway. Her and Jasper's room was a lot like Edward's and mine. They had the same plush carpet, and the same dresser, but the walls were a baby blue color. Their bed wasn't sleigh like, instead it had tall poles coming up from each corner, and had a white canopy draped over them. The bathroom and closet were reversed, the bathroom on the right, and the closet on the left. It was exactly what I expected for Alice.

Alice disappeared into her closet for a moment, and returned with three different outfits. She placed them carefully on the bed, and told me to choose.

The first outfit was certainly not for me. It was a white skirt, which would reach to just above my knees if I were to put it on. It had several layers to it, and had a ruffled sort of look. The top was a black tank top that would overlap the skirt ever so slightly. I shook my head, and Alice chuckled.

"Alice, the high today is sixty-six," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah," Alice mused, "You can notice temperature changes, I'm not used to that." She shook her head, "That one's out."

The second was a lot better, and I told myself I would consider it. The pants were tight looking, and black. I think they were called Brazilians. Jessica wore them to school all the time back in Forks. Thinking about it, I felt a pang of homesickness, but quickly pushed the thoughts away. Now was not a time for nostalgia. I shook my head before looking at the shirt. I knew how tight those pants were. I could never pull them off.

The third outfit was tolerable. It was a plain flowey black skirt, much longer then the first one, it would reach to about two inches below my knees. The shirt was a plain red top, with sleeves that would reach to my elbows. It was really an adorable outfit, but I wasn't exactly sure how it would work on me. It was certainly worth a shot though. The peasant look was simple, but still girly. I could actually see myself in this one, unlike the others.

Alice shoved the third one at me, and practically pushed me into her bathroom. She also handed me a pair of black panty-hose. Although it wasn't going to be too cold out, the hose would keep my legs warm.

I stripped off the old sweats and t-shirt Edward had given me the day before, and changed into the skirt and top. When I looked in the mirror, I was surprised to find that the outfit really did look nice on me. The shirt clung to me femininely, showing off my figure, one I really didn't even know I had. The skirt draped nicely over my hips, and swished lightly when I walked. I really liked this outfit.

I stepped out, and Alice smiled. "Perfect," she announced. "I found a pair of shoes for you too. They're flat, just your style."

I chuckled, "Good, now I don't have to worry about falling," I said, but then added, "Well no more then usual, at least."

Alice handed me a pair of ballerina flats, and I slipped them on, over my panty-hose covered feet, and we were out the door.

Edward, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett were waiting for us outside. Edward was looking at me with a stunned expression. Guess he wasn't expecting me in a skirt. I giggled lightly, and stood in front of him.

I heard Emmett's booming laughter, "Put your eyes back in your head, bro." he said, and I heard a chorus of laughter, from everyone but Edward and Rosalie.

My cheeks turned bright pink, which made everyone, except Rosalie, laugh even harder. Even Edward joined in this time.

"Let's just go," Rosalie snapped, "shall we?"

Emmett sighed, "See you at school guys,"

He and his wife hopped into the BMW, and drove off.

Edward rolled his eyes, "I really don't understand her…"

"Come on, we're going to be late," I said, hopping into the passenger seat of the Volvo, brushing off Rosalie's dislike towards me nonchalantly.

I saw Edward shrug, as he walked to the other side of the car, and started the engine. Alice and Jasper climbed into the back, and I silently wondered if it would be hard for him to be in such a closed space with a human.

"Ready to go?" Edward asked, smiling at me.

I buckled my seatbelt. "As ready as I'm going to be," I sighed, "Let's go…"

"Woo-hoo!" Alice cheered, and I watched through the rear-view as Jasper elbowed her softly in the arm, chuckling as he did so.

"Alice loves starting over," Edward explained.

I nodded in understanding, and briefly thought about what that would be like, pretending to be a high school student, year after year, when you're really hundreds of years old. I giggled quietly to myself, and Edward gave me an odd look.

"Just drive," I told him, chuckling again. He blinked a few times, and pulled away from the house, speeding down the street to our new school.

* * *

**This chapter was going to be a bit longer, but I'm being kicked offline, so I guess that's it for this chapter. There will be another chapter up later today.**

**Also, for those of you who read my "A Christmas in Forks" story, that will be up a little later. The chapter is halfway through.**

**--Kiwi**


	9. Ransom

**This chapter is dedicated to L.C. Candle. Because she is nifty, and I sorta forgot to review one of her stories, and I'm really sorry. So, yeah. This is for L.C.**

* * *

As we stepped out of the car, in the school's parking lot, Edward entwined his fingers with my own, and gave my hand a loving squeeze, a silent word or comfort. I looked up at him, offering him a smile to let him know that I heard him. Everything was going to be fine, as long as he was here with me. I just hoped that we had classes together. A sudden wave of fear washed over me. What if we didn't have any classes together?

Jasper and Alice were walking about three steps in front of us, hand in hand. Rosalie and Emmett were walking several steps behind us. Although Alice and Edward were the only two in the family that didn't graduate last year, Carlisle signed them all up this year. The more vampires around to keep me safe the better. I realized that Rosalie probably hated me even more now. This was supposed to be her year off. Jasper and Emmett were probably somewhat annoyed as well.

Jasper turned around, and shot me a 'don't worry' look, and I suddenly felt calm. I really liked this power of his. It was really helping me. I gave him a friendly smile, and Alice led us all to the front office.

Eventually we had all gotten our schedules, and Emmett and Rosalie disappeared. We had all established that I had all my classes, except one, with either Alice, Edward, or Emmett. I wondered if this was somehow Carlisle's doing. In fact, I had one class with both Alice and Edward. There was one class though, that I was completely vampireless.

"I can fix that," Edward said, smirking, as we headed to our first class, which conveniently contained both Alice and Edward.

"Edward, she'll be safe at school," Alice said rolling her eyes. "Neither Laurent, nor Victoria could pass as teenagers, so they couldn't possibly harm her in class."

I nodded, "I'll be fine," I agreed. "I can handle one class on my own."

We entered our first class, English, and all eyes turned to us. Well, mostly just Edward and Alice, but me as well. They were probably only looking at me because I was lucky enough to be with them. We all took seats in the back just in time for the tardy bell to ring.

"New students," the teacher chirped. "Welcome to Denali, I'm Miss Spumoni"

Edward and I flinched at her extra perky attitude, but Alice smiled brightly back, and said, "Thank you Miss Spumoni, I'm Alice Cullen, this is my brother Edward, and this is Bella Swan."

I smiled when Alice said my name, and Edward raised a hand at the sound of his name as well, offering a small wave.

"Alright class," Miss Spumoni, (isn't that an Italian pastry of some kind?) said, "Today we are going to start on Romeo and Juliet. We won't get into the reading until tomorrow, but today we'll get started on the background information…"

Edward and I shared a glance, smirking at each other. This class was going to be interesting….

---------------------------------------------

My next class I had alone. Edward walked me to the door, and gave me a quick kiss before departing to his own second hour.

Calculus. I despised math all together, but something told me that calculus would be much, much worse then trigonometry last year. Yet another pang of nostalgia hit me then, as I took a seat towards the back of the class.

A perky looking red-head sat down in the desk next to me, and flashed me a welcoming smile. His hair was distracting me; it was a bright red, matching the many freckles adorning his face. He had bright green eyes, and was almost as pale as me. "Hey, I'm Austin," he greeted, "You new?"

_No, really? You must be bright._ I was tempted to say, but instead I just nodded, "Mmhmm." I said, "I'm Bella."

"Do you need help finding your classes?" he asked. Oh no. Not another one; an over-helpful golden retriever. Please don't be another Mike.

"No, thank you," I said, trying to be polite. "I already know someone who knows the place pretty well."

He nodded, and looked away, obviously disappointed. I sighed. Did every town have a Mike? Maybe if I set the lines right off the bat, he wouldn't end up like Mike.

I wasn't going to like this class half as much as my first hour, I knew that right away.

Half way through the class however, I was called to the office for early dismissal. I was confused at first, but I just assumed that Edward was getting paranoid, and wanted me to stay at home. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

When I got to the office, Carlisle was waiting for me, a smile on his face that I couldn't quite figure out.

"What's going on Carlisle?" I asked, as he led me to the car.

"Don't worry Bella," he said, "I'll explain everything when we get home."

I blinked, "Where's Edward?" I asked. Carlisle was scaring me, what was going on? Where was Edward? Why was I leaving? Was Victoria here?

He opened the car door for me, and I got inside, buckling my seatbelt. He jumped inside the driver's seat, and started the car, also making sure to lock all the doors. Yet another reason for me to be freaking out, he locked the doors.

"Carlisle, what's going on?"

"Must we play twenty questions?" He snapped, speeding away from the school.

This wasn't Carlisle like at all. He was always so kind, and calm, and collected. Something was very, _very _wrong. I looked out the window, trying not to panic, and noticed us pass right by the house.

"Carlisle," I said calmly, "You just passed the house."

I heard him growl, as he sped up, and kept driving. Okay, I was officially very, very, freaked out. I wanted Edward. I needed Edward, right then.

Then, abruptly, Carlisle pulled over, at the side of the road, right next to a forest. What the hell was he up to?

"Out." Was all he said.

I complied, and stepped outside the car. Carlisle got out of the car as well, but when he appeared in front of me, I watched him quickly form into Victoria. I let out a loud, blood-curdling scream, and she clasped a hand over my mouth.

"It's a shame your dear Edward isn't here, isn't it?" she hissed, tracing a line down my neck with a long fingernail. "To watch you die,"

I froze at her cold touch, but not for the same reason as when Edward did. _Edward, _I felt a shock of remorse through my body. Edward thought I was safe in second hour. There was no possible way for him to save me now, unless Alice saw something right when Victoria took me. I wouldn't even get to say goodbye this time.

"We're going to play a game," she said, flashing her perfect, pearl white teeth, "You see, your Edward loves you, a mere human. It rather disgusts me. If that is not bad enough, my James was killed because of that love. Because of you, a filthy human, James was murdered. Edward is going to pay for what he did, but, instead of killing him, I am going to kill the one thing that means the most to him in this world," she paused, and I gulped, knowing what was coming. "_You_," she finished, smiling wickedly.

I stood completely still, too scared to move, or speak. It was true. It was because of me, a feeble human, Edward and his family risked their immortal lives last year. It was because of me that they had broken all the rules, by allowing me to know their secret. It was because of me, one, feeble, clumsy human, that I was going to die, without even saying goodbye to the one thing that meant the most to me in the world.

"You see, Isabella, you are just a pawn, a tool, if you will, in my little plot of revenge." She smirked, "I kill you here, and lure Edward to this very place, making him think you're still alive, and he can somehow save you. But when he gets here, it will be too late. I will be gone, and you will be waiting for him, already dead, it being far too late for him to save you. And then it will be over. You'll be dead, and he'll be destroyed, just like James and I. If he tries to seek me out for revenge, well I'll just have to kill him too."

I found my voice, "You will not hurt Edward," I said, "A mate for a mate, isn't that enough for you?" I wouldn't let her hurt my Edward. If I was going to die, he wasn't going to follow me.

She laughed manically, "Oh Bella," she said, "How sweet, trying to protect your dear Edward. Don't worry. I wont hurt him, unless I need to."

"You won't hurt him at all," I snapped.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a twig snap behind me, and I stiffened. Laurent. She brought backup.

But then I heard three words that brought my courage back to life.

"Let. Her. Go." A harmonic voice growled. I knew that voice. That voice could only belong to him.

"Edward," I breathed, a sudden wave of confidence washing over me.

Victoria laughed, and spun me around, so she was holding my back to her, in a threatening stance. She lowered her mouth to my neck, and I felt her icy breath on my skin.

"Move and she dies," Victoria snapped, lifting her eyes to Edward, but not moving from her hostile position, her teeth still dangerously close to my neck.

I watched Edward's face carefully. He looked positively terrified. I had never seen him this scared before. That petrified me. Had he lost hope? Did he really think he couldn't save me? Is that why he was so worried?

"Victoria," he hissed, "What do you want?"

She laughed, "You mean as ransom?" she asked, "Do you really think there is anything you can offer me that could save her?"

Edward looked directly into my eyes. "Take me instead," he said, his tone very serious.

I gaped. "What?"

"Oh Edward," Victoria sighed, "You really do love this little human, don't you?" Her teeth were still just an inch away from my neck. That was probably the reason that Edward hadn't moved yet.

Edward didn't reply. "If you want to hurt someone for James, hurt me. Don't hurt Bella, she didn't do anything to harm James."

"But killing her," she said, "that would hurt you very much, now wouldn't it?"

I winced. "Just,"—I stuttered—"Just go Edward."

He gaped at me, "What did you just say?"

"Go," I told him.

Victoria pulled away from my neck, to get a look at my face, probably to see if I was actually serious.

The second that she was at a safe distance from my neck, I heard Edward's velvet voice yell, "NOW,"

I felt a strong force pulling Victoria off me, and another, simultaneously pushing me into Edward's granite arms. He picked me up bridal style, and told me to close my eyes. I complied, and next thing I knew, we were running.


	10. Downhill

Edward sat me down carefully on our bed. It wasn't until after he was laying next to me, holding me close to him, that I realized that I was still shaking in fear.

"It's alright," he cooed. "You're home now, and you're safe with me."

I spun around so my head was buried in his granite chest, but his arms were still tightly wound around me. I was pretty sure I had stopped shaking once I heard his velvet voice again, the one that I thought I would never hear again after tonight.

"I was afraid you wouldn't get there in time," I said, my voice cracking. "I thought I would never see you again."

"Silly Bella," Edward said, kissing my hair. "I wouldn't let that happen. I promised you nothing would ever happen to you, did I not?"

"Sometimes," I murmured, "You can't fight fate."

He took my face in his hands, and forced me to look into his ocher eyes. They were intense, very serious. "Nothing is ever going to hurt you again," he said, "I mean it. I will fight fate if I have to. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, though it was difficult through his iron grip. He dropped his hands, and I returned to our previous position, my head hidden in his torso. I sighed, and snuggled closer into his cold grasp.

"What were you thinking?" he asked suddenly, and I instantly knew what he was talking about.

I shook my head, "I wouldn't let her hurt you," I said, raising my head to look up at his face again. "To imagine her killing you, instead of me…" I shuddered. "I just couldn't allow that."

"Bella, she would have never laid a hand on me," he said. "It was all a part of the plan. Emmett and Alice were standing nearby in the trees the whole time. Jasper had the car too, just inside the trees, just in case. My job was to get Victoria to get her teeth at a safe distance, and then to call to them, so they could get her away from you, and I could run with you to safety. Well, you did a good enough job distracting her yourself…" he sighed.

My face turned a deep pink, and I didn't speak. I could have really gotten us both killed right then and there. If instead of pulling away in shock, she would have just listened to me, and killed me right there… I almost messed up the entire plan.

"It's not like I wouldn't have," he said, "If Alice and Emmett weren't there, I really would have given anything to save you, you know that right?"

"No!" I half-shrieked, "Absolutely not! You will never do anything like that again Edward Cullen, do you understand me?" I poked his chest several times with my index finger, hard.

"Do you seriously expect me to choose my life over yours?" He sounded disgusted by the idea.

"Yes," I nodded. "Your existence is far more important then mine. Besides, I wouldn't want to live in a world where you didn't exist. You will never give up your life for mine, and that is final."

He groaned, "Bella, you're absurd."

"I'm absurd!?" I explained, pulling myself out of his arms, and rolling to the other side of the bed, but still faced him.

Edward sighed, and rested his head on his palm, propping himself up using his elbow. "Yes Bella, you're absolutely absurd." He said, closing his eyes. "To think that you would honestly give up your own life for mine, you're ridiculous. You think my existence is more significant then yours? That's… that's absurd! I cannot even think of another word to describe it!"

I smirked, "How about incongruous,"

"Yes, that's one," he smirked too. "Or unreasonable,"

"Or illogical," I giggled.

Edward opened his eyes, "Irrational,"

"Ridiculous,"

"Ludicrous,"

Edward laughed, "Preposterous,"

I glared, running out of words. "Um… silly?"

"Silly Bella!" Edward smirked.

I rolled my eyes, and scooted closer to him again. I traced the contours of his face, as I did often when I was thinking. First I traced his brow, and the lids of his closed eyes, and the light purple circles on his lower lids. Then I traced his perfectly sculpted nose, and finally his pale, soft lips. Slowly, I repeated the process again, and neither of us dared to speak, our thoughts consuming us.

"But you know what, Edward?" I said, letting my fingers linger over his lips.

He sighed, his icy breath against my skin. "What, my love?"

"All those spiffy words that we just listed," I said, "They don't describe the notion of me dying for you, it's the other way around."

He growled, "Bella, you are not going to die for me, and that's final. Victoria is not going to lay a hand on you. Whether it's to save me, or otherwise,"

"And she is not going to lay a hand on you," I glared, "To save me, or otherwise,"

"So, we're in agreement here," Edward sneered, "Victoria won't hurt either of us."

I sneered back, "Deal,"

I fell back into his arms, my face hidden in his chest again. There was a long silence, where we just listened to the sound of each other's breathing, and my heartbeat. Two sounds that Edward was still being stubborn about hearing.

"Hold on a second," Edward said suddenly.

I lifted my head to look at him again, "Hmm,"

"A few minutes ago," he began, "Did you say spiffy?"

I couldn't help but laugh hysterically at that. I blushed, and burrowed deeper into his chest. He laughed too, and stroked my hair.

"Silly Bella," he whispered.

I giggled, "Silly Edward,"

He pulled my face from his chest so I was looking at him. "You are not allowed to say that."

"Silly Eddie,"

He glared, "No way, that's not cool."

"It is too cool," I smirked. "As cool as a pool,"

"More like as cool as a hot tub,"

I laughed, "Spoil sport,"

"Silly Bella is not embarrassing," he rolled his eyes, "Silly Eddie is,"

"Eddie-poo," I burst out laughing.

He wasn't laughing. "Isabella, stop that!"

"EDDY-WEDDY!" I burst out laughing again, and rolled away from his grasp.

"Oh no you don't," he shouted angrily, although I could tell that there was a smile behind his tone.

"Eddy-weddy, Eddy-weddy," I sang, backing away. Suddenly, he pounced at me, and the next thing I knew he was on top of me, tickling my sides.

"I draw the line at Eddy-weddy," he chuckled, continuing to tickle me.

"Alright….haha….Edward…stop…haha…seriously…" I managed to choke between gasps.

He stopped, but he was still sitting on me. "No more embarrassing nicknames?"

"Alright, alright,"

He raised a perfect eyebrow, "You promise?"

I sighed, "Yes, I promise." I said, rolling my eyes. "Now get off me,"

Edward chuckled, and moved, now sitting cross-legged next to me, as I still was lying on my back.

Out of nowhere, Alice was standing in the doorway, a solemn look on her face. Something told me that our afternoon was about to go downhill.

"She got away,"


	11. Edward's Ego

**This chapter is mostly a filler chapter, but next chapter, Victoria makes her grand entrance... again. So, her grand return. :D**

Edward stared at her with wide eyes. "How, Alice?" He sounded astonished, "You and Emmett, versus one Victoria. How did she possibly get away?"

Alice shook her head. "It's not one Victoria anymore," she explained, "She has Laurent and two other females on her side now."

Edward picked me off the ground, and into his arms, resting his chin on the top of my head. "Are Emmett and Jasper alright?"

Alice nodded, "They're both fine,"

"What do we do?" I asked, snuggling closer to Edward.

Alice sighed, "There's not much we can do," she replied, "We can't just leave again,"

"So you expect us to act like nothing has happened?" Edward growled. "Just go back to normal?"

I yawned involuntarily. "We don't have a choice, Eddie." I managed to smirk in the tense moment.

Alice raised a perfect eyebrow. "Eddie?"

I snorted, "He doesn't like it when I call him Eddie."

"Do you blame me?" He countered.

"Hey, hey," Alice said, and Edward and I both snapped our heads up to look at her. "It's not like your old married couple banter isn't adorable, but we have more important matters at hand here,"

Edward sighed, "We'll go back to school tomorrow," he said, "I'll make sure that Bella is not alone in any of her classes. If she can't be with me, she'll be with one of you guys. Since Victoria is still around we'll watch her carefully."

"Alright, deal." Alice nodded once, and she exited gracefully.

Edward pulled me off his lap, and stood us both up. "Now, bedtime for the human,"

I sighed, and carefully stepped up the small step-stool, and slid underneath the warm comforter. I heard the bed squeak, as Edward crawled up to join me. He laid down next to me, above the blankets.

"G'night, Edward," I mumbled, barely coherent, the exhaustion taking over.

Edward chuckled, and draped an arm over me, protectively. I vaguely heard him murmur a, "Goodnight Bella," before I plunged into the darkness.

The next thing I knew, we were running. I was swung over Edward's back, my face looking at his chest. Trees were passing us at light speed, and I snapped my eyes shut to keep from getting sick.

"Edward, where are we going?" I asked tiredly, hiding my face in his shirt.

I heard a dark malicious laughter, and my eyes snapped open. We continued to run though the forest, until he dropped me on the ground in the middle of a small clearing. It wasn't our meadow, just a random clearing in the middle of nowhere.

I looked up at his face, and screamed. It wasn't Edward at all, it was Laurent. I crawled backwards, and ended up running into what felt like a wall. I looked up to see Edward standing behind me. He let out a growl, and pulled me up, standing me in front of him. But suddenly, a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Good job, Laurent," he purred.

I stepped backwards, "Edward—what is going on?"

He laughed, "Silly Bella," he smirked. And suddenly, standing before me was not my angel, but my worst fear: Victoria. She demonstrated with her hand, to the other side of the meadow where two females were holding Edward's arms, as he struggled against their strong, inhuman, grip.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he looked down at the grass in defeat.

And then, Victoria lunged at me, her menacing teeth headed straight for my neck.

I shot up out of my laying position, screaming, and clutching my throat. Panting, I frantically turned to my right, to see Edward sitting up as well, watching me anxiously.

"Bella," he cooed, "It's alright. It was only a dream."

My eyes searched his face, and I didn't speak at first. I felt my heart rate slowly falling to a normal pace, and I took in a deep breath. I groaned, and nodded, falling onto my back again.

"Was it Victoria?" he asked, lying back down next to me, and softly brushing my face with his cool fingers.

I nodded, "And Laurent too," I sighed.

"But it was only a dream,"

"I know," I breathed, forcing a small smile.

He turned on his side, and kissed me softly on the cheek. "Time to get ready for school, sweetheart,"

I nodded, and rolled towards the edge, and climbing out of bed, remembering to use the steps this time.

"Alice put some clothes for you in that dresser," he pointed to the oak dresser opposite from the bed. "She'll take you shopping for your own stuff tonight."

I groaned, as I pulled out a pair of jeans out of the dresser. "I absolutely loathe shopping, you know that?"

He chuckled, "I'll come too of course, to make sure she doesn't torture you too much," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes, and pulled a blue sweater out of one on the drawers. When I held it up, I realized that it was mine; the one Edward loved so much. I raised an eyebrow, and held it up for Edward to see.

"How did this get here?" I asked, smirking.

Edward beamed, "I managed to snag that one,"

"But how…?" I was completely confused. I knew Edward was fast, but how could he have possibly been _that_ fast?

"I have my ways," he chuckled.

I was still utterly lost. "But…you were with me the whole time before we left, how on earth did you get this?"

"I'm Edward Cullen," he smirked, "I can do everything, remember?"

I scoffed, "Egotistical bastard," I rolled my eyes and strolled into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.

"That wasn't nice," He said, but I could tell, even with the door shut, that he was smiling.

"I know," I stuck my tongue out at the door, directing it at him. Realizing that he couldn't see that, I added, "I'm sticking my tongue at you, just so you know."

I took a quick shower, using the hot water to relax my tense muscles, and to clear my mind of that horrid dream. I found that my favorite strawberry shampoo was already here as well. Maybe I _was_ overlooking one major detail. He _was_ Edward Cullen after all. He _could_ do anything, perfectly.

I stepped out of the shower, and towel-dried my hair, and slipped it into the ponytail that was already around my wrist from the day we left.

Once dressed, I exited the bathroom, to find Edward in a fresh outfit, sitting on the bed. He was wearing the black turtleneck and the kaki pants that he had worn to the meadow, the first time.

"Still angry?" he asked, giving me that lopsided grin that I loved so much.

I sighed, "I guess not,"

Edward beamed, "Good,"

--------------------------------------------------------------

Edward immediately went to the office, and Alice and I went to our first hour, after promising to save him a seat. I was looking forward to first period. We were starting on Romeo and Juliet today. I'd read it several times, but it never got old.

"I see you're wearing the shirt Edward made me go get," Alice said, as we made our way to the same seats as before. "Along with your shampoo,"

I sighed, it all suddenly making sense. "That's how he did it…" I mused, shaking my head, taking my seat.

Alice giggled, gracefully sitting herself down as well. "How did he explain it?"

"_I'm Edward Cullen, I can do anything_," I mocked, making a face.

Alice burst out laughing. "Yeah, he asked Jasper to pack for me, and told me to go grab a few specific items of yours."

I rolled my eyes, "His ego is a little too big for his own good," I thought aloud, smirking. "It must be difficult to walk around with a head that big."

"Yes Bella, it is a little heavy," Edward smirked, taking a seat as well.

I flushed bright red. I hadn't seen him come in, or even approach.

Alice laughed again, "You guys are adorable,"

"Thanks," I raised an eyebrow, "I guess…"

Alice giggled, "You're welcome, I guess."

The class started then, the teacher reading the chorus' first lines of the play.

"_Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene,"_


	12. Manipulation

**I know, super short chapter. Don't hate me. And this chapter goes completely against the preface I know, she was originally going to die another way, but this is what came out of my brain, and I think it's better anyway.**

"You do make an adorable Juliet," Edward teased, as the silver Volvo pulled into our driveway.

I smirked, "Shut up, _Tybalt,_" I said, poking him in the arm, as he helped me out of the car.

Alice and Jasper hopped out as well, laughing at our 'married couple banter,' as Alice so eloquently put it. Rosalie's car pulled into the driveway as well, and she and Emmett hopped out. Rosalie walked passed us, without a word, and Emmett managed a, "Hey guys," before Rosalie pulled him around the house, into the garage.

Edward rolled his eyes, and took my hand. "Come on you," he chuckled, "Alice is going to take us shopping after dinner." I shot him a glare, and he laughed again, and pulled open the front door.

He stopped laughing once he saw the figures in the center of the living room.

There, in our own home, was Victoria, Laurent, and two other female vampires. Their crimson eyes were glaring intently into my chocolate brown ones.

Edward pushed me behind him, a snarl ripping from his chest, as he spread out his arms to his sides, in an attempt to shield me. Alice took a fighting stance on one side of Edward, and Jasper on the other.

"Hello again, Edward," Victoria greeted, malice dripping off every word. "Lovely to see you again,"

Laurent smirked, "And look, he's brought a snack," he chuckled darkly. "How considerate of you,"

A loud roar escaped Edward's lips, and I felt myself trembling behind him. Jasper sensed my fear, and I felt a cold hand on my shoulder as a wave of calm swept over me.

Emmett burst through the door, obviously he had heard Edward's loud malicious roar. He stood behind me, a strategic move, just in case they tried to get around Edward, Jasper, or Alice.

"Well, well Bella," Victoria said, and as I peeked over Edward's shoulder, I could see a smirk cross her face. "You must feel special, all these people trying to protect you. It's too bad that they won't succeed."

"You will not harm Bella," Edward growled.

Victoria cackled. "Would you like to place a bet on that, Edward?"

Suddenly, Alice, Jasper and Emmett stepped away from me, and walked quickly over to Victoria, and stood in formation behind her.

Edward's eyes grew wide, and I almost thought I would collapse. They had betrayed me. They had betrayed Edward. I had never imagined that they would ever do something like that. I called them family, they called me family. Were they lying to me the whole time?

"Don't take it personally," Laurent smirked. "They have no choice but to come to our side. It's my gift you see, manipulation. I can make anyone do anything that I want, and they have no idea what they're doing."

I watched Edward's arms drop to his sides, and I felt myself walk right around Edward, and straight for Victoria. I had no control over what I was doing. I could vaguely hear Edward yelling in the background. I didn't have full control over myself again, until Victoria had me captive again, her arms holding my back to her, her lips inching towards my neck. Edward was struggling to move, and I could tell that Laurent was holding him still.

I screamed as I felt her sharp fangs pierce my skin.

I slammed my eyes shut, as I continued to scream in pain. Suddenly, she let go, and I fell to the ground. I managed to pull up enough strength to look up, and see what was happening.

Alice, Emmett, and Jasper all pounced at Victoria and the two females at once. Laurent stood smiling, his arms crossed over his chest, looking very smug.

He dropped down to my level, and lifted me in his arms. I made an attempt to protest, but the fire rippling through me turned my protest into a painful scream. Edward growled fiercely at Laurent, and I screamed again, another wave of pain flying through me.

Then Laurent did something I didn't expect, he gently handed me to Edward. Edward looked surprised too, but he held me close, inspecting my wounds. I heard the battle between the other vampires raging on, for a few more moments, before I heard them all loudly scatter out the back door.

Edward quickly dashed towards the couch, laying me down gently. Edward kneeled down next to me, placing his cool fingers on the large gash in my neck, it dimmed the fire some, and I let out a sigh of relief.

I felt my consciousness slipping, and Edward and Laurent were both watching me with concerned eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Laurent shook his head. "It wasn't supposed to get this far, this wasn't supposed to happen."

Edward shook his head, "You owe us a hell of an explanation, but you saved her life," I heard him groan, "Well, you kept her from dying, and for that I am grateful, and that is the only reason you aren't dead right now."

"Edward," I rasped, barely able to speak, as I slipped into unconsciousness.

"Yes, love?" he pressed against my neck a little harder, but still gently. It made the fire stop almost completely, but the fire wasn't the only pain ripping through me at the time.

I offered him a weak smile, and said, "I'm going to be one of you," my voice was still hoarse.

He sighed, "I guess you can't bet against Alice after all,"

I chuckled softly, and murmured a quiet, "I love you,"

I did manage to hear a soft voice say, "They're dead," before everything went completely black.

**HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!**


	13. Babe

I woke up some time later, feeling like I hadn't slept at all. My entire body was sore, and it felt like every inch of my body was on fire. I let out another piercing scream, and Edward immediately scooted closer to me, the cold of his body comforting me some. I realized then that we were lying in our bed. How I had gotten here, I wasn't entirely sure.

"Edward…" my voice didn't even sound like mine. It sounded hoarse, and scratchy, and it sounded nothing like my usual high pitched tone.

"Shh love," he said, kissing my neck, where Victoria had bitten me. "I'm here. You're going to be fine, darling."

"It hurts…" I rasped. The fire was no longer just on my neck, the venom was spreading, and my whole body was aching, and burning.

"I'm sorry, Bella," his usual beautiful velvet voice was tainted with despair. "I should have been able to protect you."

"No," I retorted, my voice weak and gruff. "This was what I wanted… well, more or less."

Another wave of pain washed over me, as the burning was suddenly intensified. I let out another scream of pain, and Edward started stroking my hair again. He kissed my forehead, and sighed.

"I'm sorry Bella," his voice broke, "I'm so, so sorry,"

"Don't be," I croaked, holding in another scream. He sensed my pain, and he pulled the blankets off of me, and holding me as close to him as he could, trying to cool me down. It worked a little, but the fire was still burning my skin.

"Your shirt," I heard Alice's voice, coming from the other side of the bed. I realized then that she was sitting at the edge of the bed, watching me sadly.

"What…?" Edward sounded confused.

Alice sighed, "Your skin, its cold," she said, "It will help the fire some, hopefully."

Edward pulled away from me, and I whimpered, not liking the idea of him leaving me. Alice was immediately at my side, placing a cold hand on my forehead.

"I'm here Bella," Edward's velvet voice called to be, softly. Suddenly I felt him pulling me back into his arms, cradling me close, stomach to stomach. He was much cooler now. I felt myself blush when I realized that he had taken off his shirt. Alice giggled, and Edward kissed one of my red cheeks.

"I'm going to miss that," he said, mostly to himself.

Embarrassed, I burrowed my face beneath his cold neck. Since the pain was internal, the cold didn't dim the fire dramatically, but it helped a little. And with such intense pain, even a little relief was good.

"Sleep Bella," Alice's soft voice cooed, "The transformation is a lot more bearable when you sleep."

Edward held me closer to his bare, frigid skin. "She's right Bella," I felt him press his lips to the top of my head. "Jasper can help with the pain, once you sleep."

Alice sighed, "He can't stand to be in the room unless you sleep," I could tell she was feeling sympathetic for both me, and her husband. "He can feel your pain. But if you sleep, he won't feel it, since you won't."

I nodded into Edward's chest, and slowly felt myself drifting back into unconsciousness.

When I woke up again, I felt the most excruciating pain I had ever felt before, in my life. The pain of the fire had doubled, and I felt it throughout my entire body. But the worst part was the soreness in my chest. My heart was beating at twice its normal rate, and it felt like it was going to fly out of my chest at any moment.

I screamed again, and sat up, pulling away from the safety of Edward's cold arms, clutching my chest, and taking in large, heaving breaths. My heart was speeding up, getting faster as the seconds passed. Another scream flew from my lips, and Edward sat up too, pulling me close to him again, trying to console me as the pain wracked through my body. I writhed in pain, until Edward eventually had to let go of me, because I couldn't keep still.

I coiled into a tiny ball, and screamed once more, before suddenly, everything stopped. The pain stopped, and my heart stopped too. I took in a huge breath of relief, and uncurled myself, looking back at Edward.

"Hello," I said, a grin spreading across my face.

Edward's frown disappeared, as he looked at my grin, and chuckled. "Hello,"

I looked around the room, noticing that Alice had left sometime during the transformation. Then something hit me.

"Wait, a second," I said, confused. "The last time I woke up, it was still my first day. How on earth am I… it's only the second day."

"Nope," Edward chuckled, "Jasper used his power to dull the pain, and help you sleep. You slept through the whole second day. You screamed a lot in your sleep though, but apparently, you didn't feel very much of it."

"Remind me to thank him later," I smiled. "I think I'll owe him for eternity now, I don't know how you survived three days of that."

Edward smiled gravely, "The worst pain is the heart stopping," he shook his head, "The pain that you feel is your body trying to fight the venom, your body resisting—" he hesitated at the last word, "death. The venom is trying to stop your heart, and your body is fighting to keep it beating. It's a painful struggle."

I opened my mouth to say something, but a squealing Alice interrupted me. She dashed towards me, landing next to me on the bed, on her knees. She was beaming, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Bella, Bella, Isabella!" she sang, still bouncing on her knees. "My vision finally came true! You're finally a permanent member of our family!"

I grinned, "Not exactly the way I wanted it to happen," I shrugged, "But either way, I got my eternity with Edward,"

Edward sighed, and pulled me into his lap. "I love you Bella," he cooed, kissing my neck. "But I never wanted this life for you, and I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you from it…"

"Edward stop," I sighed, "This is what I wanted. I want this. And we get to spend forever together, so can you really complain?"

I turned my head to see Edward smiling. "No," he said, "I guess I can't."

Suddenly, a knock at the door made the three of us turn our heads. Carlisle was standing in the doorway, smiling.

"The others are anxious to see Bella make her grand entrance," he said, with a quiet chuckle. "Hurry up and come downstairs."

I grinned, and hopped off Edward's lap, and stepped backwards, gracefully off of the bed, without the use of a stepstool.

"Ta-da!" I smirked, proud of my new found poise.

Edward and Alice laughed, getting off the bed as well. They both smiled at me, eyes examining me, head to toe. Edward's eyes lingering in a way that it was almost perverted.

"Are you ready to see the new Bella?" Alice asked, smiling widely at me still.

"Am I really that different?" I asked.

"Well…" Edward murmured.

Alice jabbed Edward in the side, with her elbow. "Keep your eyes in your head, Edward," she teased. Edward scowled at her.

"See for yourself," he said, ushering me into our bathroom.

When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I gasped.

My entire skull had shifted some, causing my forehead to angle back a little, my jaw becoming stronger, and my cheeks more prominent, they had moved upward too. My eyes had grown bigger, and were now a deep shade of crimson. The size of my nose was reduced as well, to even out my now larger doe eyes. Any flaws on my skin vanished, any blemishes gone, without any trace of them being there in the first place. Even my lips had become fuller, although they were already too large for my jaw line to begin with.

And that was only my face.

My body had changed too. I suddenly had curves. My body had completely changed, into a stunning hourglass figure. I couldn't believe my eyes. Bella Swan… with curves? The most shocking change of all though, was my skin. I thought I was pale before. My skin was now almost completely white. I was as pale as Edward now. It was something I was expecting, but it shocked me all the same.

That couldn't have been me.

Edward laughed at my reaction. "Oh come on," he said, "You're not that different,"

I gaped at him. "Edward, I'm very different…" I breathed, looking back at my reflection again. "I'm… well, I'm…"

"Beautiful?" Edward offered, "Isabella, you have always been beautiful. Now, that beauty is just intensified. You have been beautiful since the day I met you."

I sighed, and turned to smile at Edward. That was sweet, too sweet. I was always simply ordinary. Now I was beautiful. Finally worthy of being in Edward's arms.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was yet again interrupted by one of Edward's squealing siblings. This time however, it was Emmett.

"BELLAAAAA GET DOWN HERE NOWWWWW" he whined, "STOP MAKING OUT WITH EDWARD AND COME HERE!"

If I could have, I would have blushed. I groaned, and followed as Alice and Edward led the way downstairs.

When I entered the living room, Jasper and Emmett's jaws dropped. I sighed, and hid my pale face in Edward's chest, realizing he had put a shirt on at one point.

Emmett's next words would scar me for life.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "Bella's a BABE!"

Rosalie smacked him in the back of the head for that one, really hard. I think I heard his little brain rattle against his giant skull.

Edward laughed, "Yeah," he said, patting my back, and forcing me to face his family. "But she's my babe."

"Welcome to the family, Bella." Esme smiled warmly at me, "Although I've considered you as one of my daughters for a long time now, now we can say its official."

I grinned at her, "Thank you, Esme." I said, "I've considered you as a mother for quite a while too,"

"Um," Edward said suddenly, "Where's Laurent?"

Laurent; what happened to him? First he was helping Victoria, and then he saved me. Was he on our side… or not?

"Carlisle is talking to him," Rosalie replied. "Upstairs, in his office. After we killed Victoria and the other females, and you took Bella upstairs, we all had a lot of questions for him, but Carlisle wanted to talk to him first."

I sighed, "I don't understand him."

"He saved you, Bella," Jasper said. "Whether he has some kind of ulterior motive behind all of this or not, well, we'll find out soon enough, but he did save you."

I nodded. "I'm certainly grateful to him though, for whatever reason, he saved me, and I should thank him for that."

Alice was still practically bouncing out of her skin. "Let's race! Let's see if Edward can be outrun by Bella here, you never know."

Okay. Where the hell did that idea come from? Were we not just talking about Laurent?

Edward laughed cockily, ignoring the randomness of the suggestion. "No one can outrun me."

"Oh really," I shot him a glare. "I want to try…"

"You do, do you?" Edward chuckled, "Let's see what you got, Isabella."

In a flash, I was out the door, and standing in the front lawn. It was dark out now, just after twilight. I had awoken from my transformation just as twilight had been falling. The irony of it made me smile. The end of another day, the end of my human life, and the beginning of a new life with Edward.

"Think you can take me?" I sneered, as Edward took a spot next to me.

Edward laughed arrogantly again, "Oh, I know I can."

"Bring it, pretty boy," I shot him a playful glare.

Edward looked shocked by my words. "Oh," he said, "It's on."

"On your mark," Emmett said.

Alice clapped her hands excitedly, "Get set,"

Rosalie even looked eager for this. "GO!" she shouted.

With that, Edward and I took off. We were running, both of us at full speed. We were literally neck and neck as we dashed through the Denali snow, and into the forest that stood by the house. I was keeping good pace with him, and we were running side by side. I quickened my pace some, and ran ahead of Edward. He sped up too, and soon we were side by side again. I growled at him, and to my surprise, he growled back, as we continued running. I was almost ahead of him, when he abruptly stopped.

I stopped too, about a foot ahead of him, eyeing him curiously. "Edward, are you alright?"

He sniffed the air, and looked at me with a completely stunned expression.

"What?" I asked. "What happened?"

"You don't smell that?" the stunned expression didn't leave his face.

"Should I…?"

He blinked. "Bella, its blood, human blood. There must be a hiker in the woods somewhere near here, possibly bleeding, and you smell nothing?"

I shook my head, feeling as though I was close to tears, although that was impossible. "No, I don't smell anything…" I sniffed the air, "'cept maybe some cedar."

"Bella," he said, his voice cautious. "I think… I think we might have found your gift."

**No, Bella will not be immune to blood. This won't be like Seduction, trust me. Kayleigh helped me come up with an idea. Actually, that's a lie. Kayleigh came up with a brilliant idea, and I'm using it, because she said I could. **


	14. Regret

"My gift…?" I asked, confused.

Edward pressed his forefingers against his temples. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head, "You always hated blood as a human…"

"But, if I don't drink blood, I'll die," I said gaping at him. "If my gift is that I can't smell blood, my gift is going to kill me."

"NO!" Edward roared. His volume scared me, and I took an involuntary step back. Edward saw that he had scared me, and he frowned. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I just—I can't lose you, certainly not like that."

"You won't Edward," I offered him a weak smile. "We'll figure things out, everything will be fine."

Edward stepped forward, and took my hand. "Come with me," he said, gently pulling me through the trees, not giving me a chance to protest.

We winded through the trees at an almost-human pace, until we reached a small clearing, with a pond, and deer frolicking through the snow, and drinking from the small pool of water.

Just then, the most delicious scent filled my senses. I felt a strong burning in the back of my throat, and my mouth was watering with venom. Before I knew what was happening, I had jumped out of the trees, and had one of the deer's throats in my hands, and I was sitting on my knees in the snow. In an instant, I had snapped the deer's neck, and sunk my teeth into it. The warm liquid made its way down my throat, causing the blazing thirst to completely seize.

Hands shaking, I dropped the lifeless animal's body in the snow. Eyes wide with realization, I turned to face Edward who was watching me, sorrow covering his face. He was obviously ashamed of me. I hadn't been able to control myself for two seconds. There went his gift theory.

"Edward," I murmured, and he was instantly at my side, mimicking my position, and pulling me into his arms.

Edward buried his face in my neck. "Now you see," he said into my neck, "Why didn't want to damn you to this life. You're regretting this, aren't you?"

I pulled away from Edward, to stare at him in shock. "Regret?" I echoed, my voice showing my confusion.

"I couldn't save you from this," he said, shaking his head. "I couldn't save you from Victoria, and now you regret becoming one of us. I'm beyond apologetic, Bella." He asked for forgiveness for the umpteenth time. I then realized that he _was_ ashamed, but not of me, of himself.

"Oh, Edward!" I said, brushing some of his hair out of the way, so I could kiss his forehead. "I don't regret anything, I wanted this, remember? I'm just a little confused. I mean, I thought I couldn't smell blood. And the next thing I know, I've attacked a deer, and I don't have any idea how it happened."

Edward eyed me cautiously, "Are you sure that's all?"

"Edward, you have to stop. I am what I am because of Victoria, not you. I wanted to be changed, remember?" I took his hands in mine, and kissed his knuckles. "I don't regret anything."

Edward beamed. "I love you,"

"I love you too,"

Suddenly, Edward got an evil glint in his eyes. "Race you to Carlisle!" he challenged, jumping to his feet.

I rose to my feet, and smirked at him. "You're on!"

Edward laughed a booming laugh, and we both shot off in the direction of the house again. No matter how fast we both went, neither of us could pass the other. We stayed neck and neck throughout the entire run. When we reached the front yard, we reached a halting stop at the exact same time. We had tied.

"Holy crap!" Emmett exclaimed.

Alice was still hopping on her toes in excitement. "Wow Bella! You're so fast!"

"No one has ever been able to go as fast as Edward," Rosalie gaped. Then she did something I certainly hadn't expected. She shot me a smile. "I'm impressed…"

Edward folded his arms over his chest, pouting. It was rather cute. A grin spread across my full lips, and I poked him in the arm.

"You couldn't beat me, you couldn't beat me," I sang, gently pushing his side with my hip.

"You couldn't beat me either," he said, the smug smile returning.

I smiled arrogantly, "You still couldn't beat me." I said, poking him again. "I have tied with the oh-so-amazing Edward Cullen." I added, sarcasm dripping off every word.

Of course, mister masochistic himself had to ruin the happy mood. "Where's Carlisle? We sort-of have an issue with Bella."

They all looked somewhat apprehensive after that little announcement.

"What's wrong?" Jasper asked, eyeing me like a concerned brother. I couldn't help but smile a small smile after that.

"Bella can't smell human blood," Edward announced. "She smells animal blood just fine, but there was a hiker in the forest, and she didn't smell him at all."

They all stared at me.

"What?" Alice breathed. "Edward, that's huge. I didn't even see that coming. Do you think that's her gift?"

"What does that have to do with her human life?" Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I couldn't stand the scent of blood," I explained shrugging.

Emmett shook his head. "But you can smell animal blood. Did it smell appetizing to you?"

"I attacked a dear," I said, "So, I suppose so."

Edward chuckled, "It was an interesting sight. One minute, she's fine, the next she's attacking something."

I sighed, ignoring his comment. "So, why couldn't I smell the hiker?"

Alice shook her head, "I don't know, but it has to tie into your gift."

"What was your strongest human quality?" Rosalie asked.

"Klutziness…?" I said automatically.

"That doesn't fit," Jasper shook his head.

We all thought for a moment. None of us could have come up with a trait that could cause me to not detect human blood.

"Stubbornness," Edward said after a while. "Bella was…and probably still is…as stubborn as an ass."

I blinked, not sure whether or not to be insulted by that comment. I decided I was, and I elbowed him in the side.

"What does that have to do with human blood?" Alice asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Maybe something particular she was stubborn about?" Emmett suggested with a shrug.

Jasper sighed, "That makes sense…" he agreed. "Edward, Bella, do you have any idea?"

There was a long silence again, as we all considered all the possibilities. Edward wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me closer to his side. I leaned my head on his bicep, concentrating.

I felt Edward shake slightly and I lifted my head to see he was laughing. I raised a perfect eyebrow at him.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Perhaps it has to do with how you were always pushing the idea that we weren't monsters," he said. "I would disagree, and you would stubbornly continue to press on your opinion on the matter. Maybe this is your last hope to prove me wrong, that not all vampires have to be monsters."

I smiled, "That makes sense,"

Alice grinned, "Oh, Bella that's a fabulous gift!"

Rosalie looked green with envy, and so did Jasper. As a matter, they all looked jealous to some extent. However, none of them looked angry, or discourteous about it.

"Whoa Bella," Rosalie muttered, "You're so lucky… you certainly have the best gift out of any vampire we know."

Jasper sighed, "Well that's not fair,"

"Oh, it's okay Jasper," I said, reaching forward to touch his arm. "Please don't be upset."

He offered me a weak smile, "I'm not, just a little… envious."

Alice chuckled, "We all are,"

"Not upset with you of course…" Emmett began, but I held up a hand to stop him.

"It's alright, I understand." I said.

Just then, Carlisle, Esme, and Laurent stepped out of the house, and approached us carefully.

Laurent approached Edward and I, and took a deep breath.

"I believe," he began, "We need to have a talk."


	15. Moonlight Kisses

**This chapter is dedicated to Kayleigh and L.C., because the poor things had to leave me early tonight, for they have to return to school tomorrow.**

**Stupid school, taking Kayleigh and L.C. away from me.**

**DANG YOU SCHOOL SYSTEM!**

* * *

"Can Bella and I have a moment alone, please?" Laurent asked, his eyes darting around, watching all the members of my family.

"Not a chance," Edward growled, his grip around my waist tightening. "I'm not leaving you alone with her."

I sighed, and looked over at Carlisle. He wordlessly nodded at me, and I smiled at him quickly, and then turned my attention back to Edward. I stood on my toes, and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"It's alright Edward," I said, my lips brushing up against his cheek again as I spoke. I lowered my weight back to my heels, and offered him a weak smile. "I'll be alright. Talk to Carlisle about my gift, or something. Laurent can't hurt me now, remember?"

"Isabella," he pronounced my full name, to prove the seriousness of the situation. As if I needed more proof of _that_! "I will not leave you alone with the vampire that consorted with the one who wanted you dead. The idea is absurd."

I smirked, "Absurd? How about incongruous?"

"Bella, please be serious," He said, although I saw his lips twitch, as he attempted to hide a smile. He dropped his arm from my waist, and pulled me in front of him, so we were face to face, although he had to look down to catch my gaze.

"I am being serious, Edward," I sighed. "All will be fine. I'll meet you inside in a few minutes, okay?"

Edward groaned, and looked in the distance, up at the now dark sky. "Bella…"

"It's okay. I'll scream if I need you. Or I'll run. I can run a lot faster now, can I not?"

Edward sighed, and kissed my forehead. He started making his way to the house, but before he got too far, he turned back around, snarling at Laurent.

"If you lay one hand on her," he threatened.

Laurent smiled slyly. "I wouldn't dream of it."

And then, it was just Laurent and I, alone in the Alaskan night.

"Bella," he began, "You must understand that I am very sorry for what happened to you. Honestly, you were never supposed to get hurt. The Cullens were supposed to come out of their trance before Victoria bit you, but it took them longer then anticipated for them to snap out of it."

I nodded politely, taking all this in. So it was his plan all along to save me. Manipulating the Cullens to stand behind Victoria was so they would be closer to her, so when she tried to bite me, it wouldn't take more then a millisecond for them to attack her. Laurent was a good guy all along.

One question burned in my mind though.

"Why?" I asked. "Why the sudden interest in saving me? Why betray Victoria to save a feeble human, like I was?"

"That's a good question, Bella." Laurent chuckled, and I didn't really understand the reason behind the laughter.

"Thanks," I said, somewhat rudely. "Would you care to answer it?"

"I'm not a terrible guy," he said, smiling smugly. "I may not be strong enough to stick to the…" he struggled to find the correct wording, "…less _satisfying_ diet that you, and your coven share, but that does not make me evil."

"Taking innocent lives, to gratify your thirst," I said, folding my arms over my chest. "I don't believe that's a usual habit of a _good_ guy."

He laughed again. "Bella, you are a bright girl," he said, reaching up to touch my cheek. I couldn't move beneath his cold hand, as he cupped my face.

"You never answered my question," I said, glowering at him. "Why save me?"

He dropped his hand. "Bella," he smirked again. "Why must you be so concerned with such trivial things? I apologized for not being able to stop Victoria. And now you have your eternity with Romeo over there," he pointed to the house, where Edward was watching from the window. "Stop asking pointless questions, Juliet."

How dare he speak to me like that? My eyes narrowed, and a low growl escaped my chest. "I want you to answer my question, Laurent." I spat.

"You're not dead," he said, "Well, not in the literal sense anyway. Can't you just say thank you, and let us go on with our lives?"

"I want an answer," I snapped.

He sighed, giving in. "Bella, you were an innocent girl. You did nothing wrong. James was entranced by your scent, and he hunted you, and you nearly bled to death."

I winced at the memory. He noticed, and I saw him genuinely smile apologetically.

"Edward did what he had to do to James to save you." He shrugged, "I would have done the same, if the woman I loved were in danger. If Victoria wanted to avenge James, killing an innocent girl… that would do nothing. I may be a vampire, but I'm not that sadistic."

I smiled, "See? Was that so hard?" I chuckled, "You're not such a bad guy after all." I playfully punched his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, let's not let that get out, alright?" he smirked, "I'm quite proud of my big bad vampy reputation."

I laughed, "Your secret is safe with me."

He smiled genuinely. "Have a good eternity, Bella. Maybe we'll meet again someday."

"Goodbye, Laurent."

He kissed me sweetly on my cheek, although he was moving dangerously close to my lips, before we heard a soft roar come from a figure suddenly standing next to me.

Edward was immediately at my side, growling quietly. He had obviously been watching though the window the whole time.

Laurent glanced apologetically at Edward. "Goodbye, Isabella." He said, harmoniously. And then, he was gone.

Edward looked at me, a mixture of anger, jealousy, and _pain_ crossing his features. "What the hell was that, Bella?"

"It was nothing Edward," I assured him. "Laurent was just saying goodbye. It meant nothing."

"Nothing?" he exclaimed. "You call another guy kissing you, _nothing_?"

It hurt me to see him like this. He wasn't only jealous. He sounded truly hurt.

"Yes," I said, with a hint of pleading in my voice. "It meant nothing to me, Edward. Laurent actually is a nice guy, but that's all he is. He was saying goodbye, and the kiss meant nothing. It was just chaste kiss on the cheek."

Edward sighed, "You sure it meant nothing?"

I took his face in my hands. "Your kisses are the only ones that mean anything to me, the only kisses that will matter for the rest of eternity."

Edward smiled, and urgently pressed his lips to mine. My hands moved from his face, to his hair, my fingers tangling in his already unruly locks. I felt him smile, as he pressed every line of his body against mine. He deepened the kiss, tossing away our old boundaries that no longer mattered. This kiss was not the usual, innocent, cautious, kiss that I had gotten used to. I held him close, not at all willing to let him go anytime soon. I laughed softly against his lips, my mouth opening in the process, inviting him in. Of course, he didn't waist a second hesitating to oblige.

And then we pulled away, panting, although neither of us actually needed to breathe. His forehead rested against mine, as he stared lovingly into my crimson eyes, and I returned the gaze, into his topaz ones.

"Welcome to eternity, love." He murmured.

And with that, we both walked inside our home, hand in hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------

That night, Edward and I just laid in bed talking all night. We didn't even talk about anything in particular, nothing of any consequence. However, it was certainly the best night of my life. Human, or otherwise. I got an amazing thrill when I realized that nights would be like that forever.

Eternity was a scary concept to think about. Time was endless, we would continue roaming the earth forever, never ending. The idea itself was scary, actually living it, now that was frightening. The thing was, that I would be living this terrifying forever with Edward. That made all of that fear feel meaningless.

The sun had just peeked its head over the horizon, when Edward turned his head to me again, kissing my cheek. I realized then, that it was Saturday.

"Emmett, Jasper, and I are going hunting today," he announced, pulling himself out of bed. "You're going to go shopping with Alice. The guys and I will be back by sundown."

"But, can't I come with you?" I asked, standing up as well, next to him.

"Bella, you don't need to hunt yet," he explained. "You'll have enough of your human blood left in you to last you a few more weeks."

I groaned, "But I can't go shopping with Alice without you!" I exclaimed, tugging on his shirt. "She'll torture me, to no end!"

Edward found my whining amusing, and he chuckled. "I'm sorry darling, but I really do have to go," I looked at his eyes, and realized that they were darker butterscotch then usual.

"Fine," I muttered, folding my arms over my chest. Edward laughed and kissed my forehead.

"I love you, and I'll see you tonight."

I sighed, "I love you too,"

He smiled one more time at me, and was out the door. I watched the wall length window, and my eyes followed him, as he and his brothers jumped into the Volvo and sped away.

"Kay Bella, get dressed," Alice's voice told me from the doorway.

Whoa, when the hell did she get there?

"It's about time we get our girl's day," Alice beamed. "Let's go shopping,"

* * *

**Let's get some shoes. XDD**

**Sorry, I couldn't resist on that one. Half of you won't know what that is, but that's okay. That lot of you is lucky to not have had all those brain cells killed.**

**Okay, well, what did you think of Laurent? I luff him. Of course, this won't be the last time you see him.**

**And boy, do I have a surprise for you next chapter! It's a must read guys.**


	16. Shop 'till You Drop

**So, yeah, here's another update. :D**

**Next chapter will be posted tomorrow or maybe even later tonight. I'm going to try and write them both tonight.**

**You're going to love Edward even more, if that's possible.**

**No, Laurent is not a villain in any way. He's just a cocky little vampire that's going to be a pain in Bella's butt for a while.**

* * *

Shopping with Alice was pure _hell_. Store after store, dressing room after dressing room, I loathed it all. Alice's pale hands gripped several bags of clothing from stores that I hadn't even wanted to go in, in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Alice. And I really did appreciate what she was doing. And I really did need the clothes.

But I hated it when people spent money on me.

I drew the line when she tried dragging me into Victoria's Secret.

"No way Alice," I said, shaking my head, as she pulled me by the arm through the door. There was no way she was going to force me to allow her to buy me things from this store. What I wear under my clothes and in my bed was my business, well and perhaps Edward's, one day soon.

Alice laughed, continuing to yank me through the store. "Oh come on Bella," she said, pulling me into the lingerie section.

I groaned in defeat, and she shoved a little black number at me, smiling widely, "Edward will love this one," she winked at me.

I blinked, "Alice, you can't be serious!" I whined.

Alice giggled, "I'm very serious Bella,"

I sighed, and took the very small garment from her tiny pale hands, and held it up to get a closer look. It was a black bra, with matching bikini underwear. The bra had a thin red mesh over it, in a fashion that looked almost floral. The straps were thin, and they were crisscrossed in the back. Of course, it was nothing I would ever consider wearing.

"No,"

"Bella!"

"No way, Alice," I said shaking my head.

Alice rolled her eyes, "Just go put it on, please?"

I groaned, and strolled over to the dressing rooms, somewhat annoyed. Why was she doing this to me? I changed into the lingerie, and looked in the mirror. I was met with an image that I certainly wasn't expecting.

I actually looked really good.

I had forgotten about the curves that I now possessed. My torso was perfectly sculpted, my stomach was perfectly flat, and all of a sudden, my chest wasn't. Since when did I have a chest? I know I wasn't always that observant, but I _knew_ that was not there three days ago. As a matter of fact, I realized for the first time since my transformation that I now had long, lean, perfect legs. I looked lanky, but at the same time, feminine, almost cat like.

"Kay Bella," Alice said, knocking on the stall door. "Let me see,"

I sighed, and opened the door, just barely stepping out. My new sensitive hearing picked up a few whispers that I probably wasn't supposed to hear.

_Whoa, hello supermodel._

_Ugh. That's so not fair. Why can't I look like that in this stuff?_

_I wonder if she's single…_

_I wonder where I could get a good taco after this…_

If I were human, my entire face would have looked like a tomato. I quickly disappeared back inside the stall, and started getting dressed.

"You realize that I have to buy you that, right?" Alice asked, and I heard her tinkling giggle.

"But Alice…"

"Edward will _love_ that," she assured me. "_Trust_ me,"

I sighed, and stepped out again, fully dressed. I had worn the same outfit that I had worn the first day of school here. It looked even better on me now. I handed Alice the clothes, and rolled my eyes.

"I'll meet you outside," I told her.

"Outside the store? Or outside the mall?"

"Are we leaving?" I asked. My voice was hopeful.

Alice laughed, "Yeah, I'm done torturing you for today."

"There is a God," I said, raising my hands in the air. "I'll meet you by the car,"

I saw Alice roll her eyes before I took a few bags from her, so she wouldn't have to carry them all, and left the store. It took me a good ten minutes to find my way out, but after some time I finally exited the mall. I was exhausted. I hated shopping, and it probably showed on my face, and slouching posture.

I started toward the car, but a male alluring voice stopped me. "Not one for shopping, are you?"

I spun around to see Laurent leaning against one of the outside walls of the building.

I scrunched my nose, "No, not really."

He laughed, "I can tell," he said, "You look like hell,"

I rolled my eyes. "Gee thanks, arrogant asshole."

"You're very welcome," he smirked.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Shopping,"

I raised an eyebrow. "Mmhmm," I said, "And the truth would be?"

"I told you. I'm shopping." He said, a wicked look in his eyes. "Grocery shopping,"

I winced. "Oh,"

"Sorry," he chuckled.

I shook my head. "Its fine," I sighed. "I'm just glad I'm not the one being hunted anymore," I shuddered.

"It's not fine, is it?"

"How do you do it?" I asked, "Taking all those lives? All those poor people you're killing. All those mothers you're taking away from their children, all those people that are losing their loved ones. How do you do it?"

He sighed, "I don't know,"

"Yes you do," I countered. "You betrayed Victoria because you didn't want to hurt the innocent girl who did nothing wrong."

"I don't think about it," he said. "I try not to at least. Victoria wasn't trying to kill you because she was thirsty. It was revenge. I kill because I have to, survival of the fittest and all that."

"That's bull, and you know it." I said. "We don't kill. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of us. We don't kill innocent people."

He sighed, "Bella, don't give me the speech." He told me, mimicking my position, and crossing his arms over his chest. "Carlisle already gave it to me."

I rolled my eyes, "Fine," I snapped. "If you don't have a problem with being a murderous monster, who goes about killing people, it's not my problem."

"Bella!" he gaped at me. I ignored him, and turned on my heel, walking towards the car. Laurent pushed himself off the wall, and grabbed my shoulder.

"Oh, no you don't…"

"Oh yes I do!" I retorted lamely. "I've been on the other side of the teeth Laurent, I know what it's like to be hunted, and killed. Obviously, you have too, because you had to become what you are somehow."

I was fuming. Laurent opened his mouth to speak, but I held up a hand, indicating that I wasn't through with him yet.

My voice raised an octave as I continued, "And don't give me the 'survival of the fittest' bit, because I know that's not it. Laurent, I can tell you're actually a decent guy, so how can you sit here, and defend your actions? Just because you're not human, doesn't mean that you need to act like such a monster! Go ahead, say I'm wrong! I know you can't, because I know that if you dare deny that what I'm saying is the truth, that you, Laurent, are an utter fool!"

Laurent was speechless. His mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to speak, but each time, nothing came out.

"Alice is probably almost here by now," I said, my voice soft now. "I have to go."

"Bella," Laurent said, finally finding his voice. "I'm sorry. I—I really don't know what to say. I—I don't want to be a monster Bella, but I can't fight what I am."

I didn't say anything.

"What can I do?" he asked, "To make you stop hating me. I don't want you to hate me, Bella."

"I don't hate you," I muttered.

"Could have fooled me," he said, placing his iron hands on my shoulders, and lowering his face to meet mine.

"Laurent, I don't hate you," I sighed. I felt somewhat uncomfortable with him being so close to me, but I couldn't bring myself to hurt him more then I already had.

He smirked, and dropped his hands. "So you like me,"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't flatter yourself,"

"Face it," he said, poking my shoulder. "You think I'm a pretty cool guy."

I glared at him.

"Admit it Bella,"

"I'll admit that, the day you admit I'm right," I smirked.

He sighed, "Oh, you know I can't do that."

I frowned, "Why not?"

"Because I'm an arrogant asshole, remember?" he asked, smiling haughtily. "We never admit we're wrong."

I chuckled, "Oh, that's right."

Laurent smiled, "See you around, doll face."

He winked playfully at me, and walked off.

I rolled my eyes. He really was an arrogant asshole. But, I couldn't help but enjoy my time with him, even if we spent half the time arguing. I watched Alice walked bouncily out of the mall, in my direction. I smiled at her, and walked to the car.

On our way home, I noticed that the sun was going down. I smiled, Edward would be home soon. There was definitely something wrong with me. I couldn't go one freaking day without missing him.

Then Alice said something that suddenly made me want to run and hide.

"Edward has a surprise for you."


	17. The Lion and the Lamb

**So yeah, I lied. This chapter is the must read. I put a little more detail into the shopping then I planned, so the super must read thing didn't happen 'till this chapter. XP**

**Of course, I realized, thanks to Emilie, that I mentioned the Volvo for the second time, without thinking. God, what is wrong with me?**

**Let's pretend that I said the black Mercedes, alright?**

**Thank God for Emilie. If she hadn't pointed it out, I would have never realized what I had done.**

**Here it is people:**

* * *

When Alice and I pulled back into the Cullen's driveway, I was disappointed to see that Carlisle's black Mercedes wasn't waiting for us. I wasn't exactly one for surprises, but sometimes I actually liked Edward's surprises. Actually, I usually loved Edward's surprises. However, they usually involved a large hole in his wallet, and I didn't like that one bit.

I stepped out of the car, sighing heavily. I started towards the door, and Alice stopped me.

"You are to take these bags into yours, and Edward's room," she commanded, handing me the five or six bags. "You are not to leave that room. You are to wait for Edward? Understand?"

I laughed, "Yes, oh wise one."

"Just go," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

The next half hour, I sat on the bed, above the down comforter. My eyes were closed, and I was off daydreaming, in my own little world. I didn't open my eyes until I heard the sound of the door shutting.

I sat up, and found the room to be completely empty of any being except myself. I blinked in confusion, my head snapping around, looking for Edward. And that's when I saw the rose.

There was a red rose sitting in the exact center of the room.

I raised an eyebrow, and hopped off the bed to pick it up. Edward had obviously snuck in. My surprise was a rose? Okay, I could live with that. It was sweet, a simple, romantic gesture. I smiled to myself, and walked to the door, expecting Edward to be waiting at the other side. Instead, I was met with another rose, just barely outside the door's arch.

A beautiful smell entered my senses. I wasn't sure what it was, but it smelled lovely. It was almost floral. Perhaps it was all the roses? No, this was different; it was more of a lavender kind of aroma. What on earth…?

"Alright," I said quietly to myself, picking up that rose. I looked up, and saw yet another rose, at the top of the stairs. Once I had that one, I saw yet another at the foot of the stairs. I dashed down, and picked up that one, the smile never leaving my face.

Edward was trying to lead me somewhere. But where?

My question was answered, when I noticed a trail of rose petals, leading around the corner, and into the living room.

When I got there, I realized the cause of the beautiful scent. Purple and pink candles were lined up in two rows, creating a pathway almost. The room was dark, except for the small amount of light that was illuminating from the candles.

I walked down the aisle created by the two rows of candles, traveling in-between them. The walkway led me around the house, through the kitchen, and out the back door. Edward was standing in the center of a circle of rose petals, on the concrete deck.

My eyes were wide open in shock. "Edward… what…?"

He just beamed. "Surprised?"

I blinked, still several feet from him. "Very…"

I was genuinely confused. What could have Edward possibly been up to? I knew Mr. Perfect was usually quite the romantic, but roses and candles, and everything? Something was going on, I could feel it.

"Come here," he purred.

I, of course, complied, and walked forward, stepping inside the circle of rose petals. "Edward Cullen, what on earth are you up to?"

Edward smiled, "Bella, I love you more then I ever believed possible," he said, taking my hands in his own. "You are the most important thing to me, the most important thing to me ever. I never thought, in all my years, that I would ever meet someone that could captivate my entire being the way that you do. I thought that was completely whole by myself. But the day you walked into my life, was the day I knew everything was about to change. _**Before I met you, my life was like a moonless night**. **Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason. But then you shot across my sky like a meteor, suddenly there was fire, there was brilliancy, there was beauty**. _If you were to ever leave me, my sky would become dark again, and now that you are truly mine, for eternity, I would like to make it official._"_

If I were human, tears of love would be running down my cheeks, by the end of his speech. And by the time he had dropped down on one knee, I probably would have been sobbing.

"Isabella Marie Swan," he pronounced my full name, the syllables rolling off his tongue like poetry. "Will you _please_, be my wife?"

"Yes!" I blurted out, without even a second of thinking. "Yes, Edward Cullen, I will marry you."

With the size of his smile, I thought his face would crack. He pulled a small velvet box out of his jacket pocket, and opened it, displaying the ring for me.

It was the perfect ring. It was beautiful, and yet simple. Edward knew me so well. It was white gold, and it had three simple stones on it.

The first was a ruby. Edward briefly explained that it was a reminder of my human blushes. He said he still missed those. My blush was one of my many human qualities that he fell in love with, when he fell in love with me.

In the center was a diamond, that was slightly larger then the other two. He explained that, by just simply repeating the old phrase, "A diamond is forever," and said that we literally had forever lying before us.

On the other end was a topaz stone, obviously to represent his eyes. His beautiful butterscotch eyes were one of the many entrancing qualities that I fell in love with, when I fell in love with him.

My eyes grew wide, as I gasped. Edward chuckled, and slipped the perfect ring onto my finger. I immediately threw my arms around his neck, and he held my waist. Then he lifted me off the ground, as if I weighed nothing, and spun me around in a circle before placing my feet back on the ground.

I unwrapped my arms from around his neck, and Edward spun me around, holding my back close to his chest, and wrapping his arms around my waist, hugging me from behind. He chuckled, and rested his chin on the top of my head, before saying, "Alright guys, come on out."

Just then, the entire Cullen family ran out from the back door, clapping and laughing. And yes, I said the entire Cullen family. Rosalie was in on it too. She wasn't as enthused as Alice, or Emmett per say, but the fact that she was there, that was enough.

"Congrats guys!" Alice squealed. "It's about time that dang vision came true!"

I eyed her curiously, "You mean the one you were so chipper about the day of Edward's accident?"

"The very one," she giggled.

"And so, the lion is finally marrying the lamb," Edward whispered.

"The lamb isn't very much of a lamb anymore," Emmett pointed out.

"Oh yes she is," I countered. "She's still the same, stupid lamb that the lion fell for. She's just a little stronger now."

"And more balanced," Alice added.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Thank God for that,"

Jasper jabbed her in the side with his elbow. "Play nice, Rose,"

"I was only kidding," she sighed.

Edward laughed, "Its okay. I was about to say the same thing."

We all joined in with Edward's melodic laughter. For the first time in a while, I felt truly happy, like nothing could shoot me down. Everything was absolutely perfect.

Our Romeo and Juliet tale hadn't ended in tragedy, like most believed that it would.

But, although it seemed like it, our story was far from over. Our happy ending hadn't quite arrived yet.

And we had no idea what was coming.


	18. SURPRISEEEE

**Stephenie didn't give Laurent much of a personality, since he was really just a secondary character. Since he is no longer as such, I gave him a pretty interesting personality**

* * *

It had been a month since Edward proposed to me. Today was August twenty-fourth. You can do the math.

The first few weeks of school after the change were… odd. People stared at me, whispering things about _plastic surgery_, and discovering the _wonders of make up._ (Their words, not mine) But, according to Edward, no one suspected anything other then the fact that I was just a rich little snob who had gotten some work done. Edward seemed to find that very amusing.

The engagement ring never left my finger, so the entire school knew about our soon-to-be wedding, thanks to some over-observant gossips. Wedding plans were spreading around the house like wildfire. Rosalie was still stiff around me, but occasionally she would put in some sort of suggestion. Alice and I were running almost everything, mostly Alice actually, but of course Edward had his say in plenty of things. We had even set a date together. We were going to be married on October sixteenth.

Another thing about the past few weeks was that I hadn't seen Laurent since our spat at the mall. Had he really left Denali without saying goodbye? I really didn't like that idea. But then again, didn't he say goodbye the night I woke up from my transformation? Laurent was starting to confuse me. One minute he's saying goodbye, and then we're running into each other. For all I knew, he could pop up out of nowhere. The only worry I had was that I really had hurt him that day at the mall. Even though I was right, I _was_ pretty harsh.

"Bella, did you hear what I said?" Alice's voice called out to me, snapping me back into reality. We were sitting on the floor of her bedroom, bridal magazines surrounding us.

I blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Bella, are you alright?" Alice cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah," I replied, shaking my head slightly, trying to focus. "I just zoned out for a minute there."

Alice sighed, "Bella, are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded, "I was just thinking, that's all." I sighed, "I think I'm going to head in for the night, Edward should be home soon."

Edward had gone out with Rosalie, the car expert, to get a new Volvo. He missed his Volvo. I rolled my eyes at the thought. _A BMW and a Mercedes isn't good enough for ya? Stupid spoiled fiancé…_

I used the palms of my hands to push myself up on my feet. I picked up the magazines off the floor, and stacked them neatly on the dresser. Alice eyed me curiously, but I smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"We'll pick up right where we left off tomorrow,"

She nodded, and I showed myself out. My mind returned to its swimming state, as I made my way to mine and Edward's room.

When I opened the door to the room, I was shocked to find Laurent, not Edward, standing by the window.

"About time you got here," he said. He didn't turn around, but I saw him smirk through the window. Eyes wide, I shut the door, and stepped forward.

"Laurent…?"

"Heya, doll face," he said, spinning around. "What's doin'?"

And that's when I saw them. Laurent's menacing crimson eyes… they weren't so menacing at all anymore, in fact they were no longer crimson. The vampire standing before me had dark butterscotch orbs. Only vegetarians had golden eyes. I stared in shock.

"Laurent, your eyes!" I exclaimed. "They're golden!"

Laurent smirked, "Observant little thing, aren't you?"

I glared at him for a moment, but I quickly recovered, realization washing over me. "You listened to me…"

"You sound surprised," he said, leaning back against the window.

"I'm shocked, actually." I couldn't tear my eyes from his. Before he was so set on his 'survival of the fittest' theory, and now… he had given that up. He became one of us.

"The coven here helped me," He explained.

"Why didn't you go to Carlisle?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want the 'I told you so' speech."

I rolled my eyes. "You're an idiot…"

"But I'm a 'decent guy,' remember?" He flashed me a toothy grin.

"Don't make me regret saying that," I said, putting my hands on my hips. He was so arrogant! I didn't think anyone could have a bigger ego then Edward.

Laurent grinned, "Oh, you won't…"

"How do you know?" I snapped.

"Simple," he replied, mimicking my pose. "You like me,"

My jaw dropped, "Excuse me?"

"You like me. You think I'm a decent guy. As a matter of fact, you would like to consider me a friend."

"You're outrageous!" I seethed.

"Admit it," he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No!"

"You like me, you like me!" He sang, shifting his weight from foot to foot. I resisted the urge to laugh. He looked like a little child.

I glowered at him. "You're so damn arrogant!"

"Yes…" he admitted, "…but you like me."

I groaned.

"Admit it!"

I rolled my eyes, and let a smile cross my lips. "Maybe you're not so bad…"

"HA!" he shouted, pointing a finger at me. "I knew it!"

I sighed. "And you know that you like me too…" I said, as childish as he was acting.

He smirked, "Naw,"

"Laurent…!" I scolded, stepping forward to smack his bicep.

"Alright, alright," he said, rubbing his arm. "No need to get violent…"

"Admit it," I smirked.

"Ehh…" he shrugged, "You're not so bad…"

I grinned proudly. "You know it,"

Suddenly I heard a car honk. My eyes traveled to the window, where I saw a black Volvo waiting in the driveway. _He got a black one…?_ I silently asked myself.

"Romeo is here I see," Laurent said, watching as Edward and Rosalie hopped out of the car.

I looked back up into his now topaz eyes, and smirked. "He has a name, you know."

"I know,"

I glowered. "You're terrible…"

"But you like me," he grinned.

I sighed, "Why… I have no idea."

He chuckled. "I don't think Edward would be happy to see me here," he mused, shrugging. "Until next time, doll face."

And he was gone.

I chuckled quietly to myself, and darted down the stairs, and out the front door. Edward was leaning on the door to his brand new Volvo, smiling at me. Rosalie flashed me a quick smile, and walked past me inside the house.

A smile, we were making progress.

"Hello," I said, embracing my fiancé, wrapping my arms around his waist, and resting my chin on his shoulder.

He chuckled, and pressed his lips against my hair. "Hello,"

"Nice car," I said, pulling away to look at his face. "I wasn't expecting a black one."

He shrugged. "Neither was I," he replied with a small smile. "But it's so pretty…"

"Prettiest thing I've ever seen," I said, playing along.

He laughed, "Oh," he replied. "I've seen prettier…" He pressed his lips to mine, but they were only touching for just a moment, because I pulled away, laughing hysterically.

"That was the corniest thing I have ever heard!" I said between chuckles.

He sighed, "You know I try to be nice…"

I rolled my eyes, "Edward…"

"…and I only get shot down…"

"Oh please," I groaned.

"…I just try to compliment the woman I love and…"

I pressed my lips to them then, hard. I pushed him against the car, and kissed him passionately, and he kissed back, running his fingers through my hair. When I pulled away, he looked slightly dazed.

"Happy?" I smirked.

He grinned. "Yep."

"Perv…" I rolled my eyes, grabbing his hand. Using all my strength, I pulled him towards the front door. But as I was walking in, I heard the sound of a car rumbling, and then abruptly stopping. I assumed it must have just been Jasper or Emmett, and proceeded to pull him inside, and into the family room.

I sat us both down on the couch, and I sat down next to him, with my legs bent beneath me. I flashed him a grin, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What are you up to…?"

I smiled, "Well, I was thinking that we'd talk about the wedding."

"Of course," he said with a smile. "What's on your mind?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but a knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Esme came out from the kitchen, where she had been cleaning. "I'll get it," she announced.

I was certainly not expecting who had walked through the door. His eyes were open in shock, as he stared at Edward.

"Jacob…" I breathed.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dunnn!**

**It's Jakey-poo! I bet you weren't expecting that one.**


	19. All's Fair in Love and War

**Just for the record, I kinda picture Laurent as Mikey Way from MCR. Why? I don't know. Inky pointed that out, and he seemed to fit for some reason. :D So, yeah.**

**Also, Laurent and Bella's relationship will be clearly defined in this chapter.**

* * *

_Tension is building _inside_ steadily. Everyone feels so far away from me. Heavy thoughts forcing their way out of me  
_**---Linkin' Park: From The Inside**

Edward's eyes suddenly turned a coal black, as he glared at Jacob fiercely. A low growl escaped his chest, and my eyes widened. Why was Edward growling at Jacob? Sure, he sometimes had some more then friendly thoughts about me, but that was no reason to sit and risk exposing himself. No human I knew could growl.

"Edward," I warned, placing a hand on his shoulder. He immediately took my hand, as he stood up, and pushed me behind him, protecting me.

Suddenly, something happened that I hadn't expected. A growl formed in Jacob's chest, and he stared at Edward with cold eyes. I was very confused at this point. Jacob was growling, Edward was protecting me from him, and Jacob's eyes were not black, ocher, or burgundy.

"You were supposed to be dead," Jacob hissed at Edward, his eyes narrowing. "I should have known that you _bloodsuckers_ would try and pull something like this. Fake your own death so you can take Bella away, and turn her into one of you."

My eyes widened. He knew. How did he know? He never believed the stories before. Why now? How did he know that I was no longer human? I placed my hands on Edward's shoulders, and peaked out to look at Jacob.

"It was an accident, _dog._" Edward spat back, as he glared at him in disgust. "And we did not change Bella. She was attacked."

Dog? Why did Edward call him a dog? I swallowed hard, and stepped out from behind Edward, taking a place next to him instead. My eyes widened in shock again when I truly saw how different Jacob looked. Jake had gotten _big. _His shoulders had gotten broader, his biceps stronger, and he had even shot up quite a few inches. If he grew any more, he would be even bigger then Edward. My jaw dropped, it had only been a month! How could all this happen in a month?

Jacob's eyes softened when he saw me. "Bella…?" he asked quietly.

"It's me…" I responded just as meekly. "How—how do you know what I am?"

"He's a werewolf Bella," Edward replied, watching me with cautious eyes. "That's why he's so much bigger. And why he suddenly believes the legends."

If I had been human, I probably would have fainted. Jacob was a—a werewolf? I blinked a few times. I even tried to respond, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a mangled squeak, that sounded a lot like a dying mouse, or maybe a goose.

"A—_what…_?" I responded in astonishment. There was no possible way that he said werewolf. But then again, who was I to judge? I was a vampire for Christ's sake.

"A werewolf," Jacob answered. "It's in my blood."

I blinked, "Since… since when?" My voice was shaking. I knew from the beginning that Edward wasn't human. I knew if from the start, it was obvious that he was something… something else. But Jacob… Jacob was just Jacob. He was my normal, human, teddy-bear-like friend. To find out that he wasn't human, that was so inconceivable, so mind-blowing. I couldn't even wrap my mind around the idea.

"Shortly after you left," he replied. "When I turned sixteen, that's when it started. I had no idea that things like werewolves existed, turns out that I am one."

"What are you doing here?" Edward snarled.

Jacob shot Edward a glare, but he answered his question. "After Bella disappeared at the same time your coven did, the pack got suspicious. Since Bella is a good friend of mine, and the same with Charlie and Billy, we decided we had to track you down. We knew that it wasn't safe for you around these bloodsuckers. We aren't the only pack around you know, we actually know one living close by, watching over another coven that claims to be vegetarian. They told us we could find you here."

"You BASTARD!" Edward exclaimed. "You had no right to do that! Who do you think you are, tracking us like that!?"

"A good friend," Jacob snapped. "If I had gotten here sooner, I bet I would have been able to save her from whatever leech took a bite out of her. I would have been able to save her, the way you couldn't."

Edward looked as if someone had come and punched him in the gut, not just once, but several times. Jacob had really struck a nerve with that one. Edward didn't look angry anymore. He looked completely pained.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, my voice was interrupted by a stronger, velvety smooth, male voice.

"I believe that you should refrain from speaking of things you know nothing about."

There, at the entrance was Laurent, in all his golden eyed glory. I felt like he should have been wearing a cape or something. Thank God for Laurent.

He came and stood at the opposite side of me, so I had a vampire on either side of me. I didn't get why they were getting so protective, there wasn't a full moon or anything. But then again, Edward didn't burn in the sun either.

"How dare you," Laurent spat. "You have no right to storm in here, and act as if you know what you're talking about. I suggest, mutt, that you go home, and find yourself a muzzle. This family does a much better job of taking care of this girl then your pack ever could."

Edward and I were in complete and utter shock. Edward probably more so then me, but I still couldn't believe my ears. Was this the same arrogant, pain in the neck, asshole that I had been bickering with since the day I woke up from my transformation? This was the same vampire. Well, that was unexpected.

I looked to Jacob, and realized that he was not only astounded, but he was pissed. His face was turning red, and I noticed that his fists were shaking uncontrollably. Edward and Laurent both looked terrified, but not for themselves. Their eyes were darting from Jacob, to me, and then to each other.

Edward turned to Laurent, and gave him a look. "Get Bella upstairs," he commanded, his eyes blacker then I've ever seen them. "And stay with her."

"I am not going to leave you to handle the mutt alone," He countered, his eyes wide. Oh my God. Did he seriously just say that? How… sweet.

Jacob's fists continued to shake, and he looked like it was taking all of his strength not to loose control. Edward noticed this too, and his nostrils flared.

The rest of the Cullens flew down the stairs in an instant, probably smelling Jacob, and hearing our yells of frustration. They glared at Jacob with black eyes, barely noticing Laurent was even in the room.

"Go Laurent," he demanded, "Now."

He gave Edward one more unsure glance, before picking me up, and running as fast as he could to the bedroom. He sat me down on the bed, and moved to the window, leaning against it, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Laurent," My voice was drained. I was scared; scared for Edward, scared for Laurent, scared for my whole family. The pack was watching us now. This could end up being a full out war.

"Give me a minute to calm down," he said, his eyes shut tight, as he pressed his forefingers against his temples.

I nodded, and a minute or two of silence passed. Well, silence in this room, at least. Downstairs, we could hear yelling, and growling, it wasn't helping my nerves at all.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

I raised an eyebrow, and shook my head. "I'm worried Laurent," I said, my voice still shaky. "A pack of werewolves is going to be much larger then our small coven. I'm afraid they'll hurt Edward, or the other Cullens, or you."

"No one is going to hurt any of us," Laurent promised, moving to sit next to me. "Especially not a pack of smelly wolves," His newly golden eyes were sincere.

I couldn't help it then. I collapsed into his chest, dry sobbing. Everything was falling apart. Right when Edward and I were finally happy. We had gotten our eternity, we had gotten engaged. Victoria was dead, and Laurent had become a good guy. Hell, Rosalie and I were even starting to get along. Everything was so perfect, until Jacob and his pack came along, pulling the rug out from beneath me, and my perfect afterlife.

Laurent's arms went around my back, awkwardly at first, but eventually he was patting my back like a real brother would. I had found a best friend in the last person I expected. And now, I could possibly lose him too. Upon realizing this, the sobs grew stronger, and I was thankful I was incapable of tears, because if I was, Laurent's shirt would be soaked.

"Everything is going to be _fine_," he said, using his index and pointer finger to lift my chin. "I promise…"

"But what if…"

"Shh…" he cooed, shaking his head. "Stop being ridiculous, Edward loves you too much to let anyone hurt you. And he loves you _way_ too much to let anyone take him away from you, that includes werewolves."

I let a small smile cross my face. "Thanks Laurent,"

"Any time, doll face," He returned the smile.

"You know," I said leaning back on the pillows. "You aren't so bad…"

He smirked. Aha, there was the Laurent I was used to. "You know it,"

I rolled my eyes, "You are pretty arrogant though," I said. He chuckled, and I added. "But you know, you're really not so much of an asshole."

He beamed. "I knew you liked me,"

"Yeah," I said. "You know. I lost a best friend today. Jacob really used to be a good friend to me…"

He frowned, "I'm sorry,"

"Don't be," I shrugged. "Because you know what?"

"What?"

"I got a new best friend today too," I smiled, touching the tip of his nose with my index finger. "A much better one,"

He laughed, "I am pretty amazing, aren't I?"

I glared, and playfully punched him in the arm. He only responded by laughing some more. That made me angrier, and I proceeded to punch him in the chest several times. Laurent, again, just laughed again. I groaned, huffed, and leaned back on the headboard.

"And Bella," he said.

"Mmhmm…"

"I got a pretty amazing best friend today too,"

I beamed, "Why thank you,"

He rolled his eyes. "I was talking about Edward…"

My jaw dropped. _Asshole…_

"Kidding! I meant you." he exclaimed. "God, stop being so uptight."

And that's when Edward walked back into the room. He looked like hell. His sweater had been shredded some in the front, claw marks no doubt. He had multiple scratches on his face and on the bare places on his chest and arms, exposed due to the tattered sweater. His usually messy bronze hair was worse then usual, and his facial expression looked like he was exhausted.

"We officially have a war on our hands,"


	20. Important Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Alright, let's get a few things straight, kay?

_As of right now,_ Laurent and Bella don't feel anything but a close friendship, they're just best friends, that's all. There are no romantic ties involved here. Just thought I'd clear that up.

And excuse me while I rant…

JACOB IS NOT EVIL. HE WAS NOT EVIL IN NEW MOON, AND HE IS NOT EVIL NOW.

Think about it, one of his good friends has been bitten by a vampire. She also happens to be dating a vampire. Put yourself in Jacob's shoes, what would you think when you saw Bella's sudden lack of humanity? I highly doubt you would automatically assume, "Oh, some other vampire from the coven that attacked her last year wanted revenge." Besides the fact, Jacob didn't even know about the attack by James, remember?

Vampires are natural enemies of werewolves. He is automatically going to hate Edward, because of what he is. Edward is going to automatically hate him as well. That's life people, they are mortal enemies. (Well… neither of them are mortals exactly, but you get the idea.)

Sure, he was being a total jerk to Edward, but Laurent wasn't exactly being Mr. Nice Guy either, and neither was Edward. So, don't get all on Jacob. Why don't you look at things from his point of view?

Jacob isn't dying, FYI.

He is just trying to protect Bella. And for the record as well, the Denali coven has another treaty too, hence the war. It's going to get a tad complicated, so bear with me.

I'm going to repeat one more thing, and then I'll work on the next chapter.

_**Jacob is NOT evil.**_

**I love Jakey. **


	21. Make Love, Not War

"Oh, Edward!" I cried, examining his wounds. "Did Jacob do this to you?"

"One dog couldn't have possibly done that much damage," Laurent dropped his arms from me, and frowned at Edward. "Not when the whole Cullen family was helping, at least."

"The whole pack showed up," Edward shook his head. "Apparently, there was a treaty for the Denali coven, as well. This treaty was a little more specific. It's broken now."

"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice shaking. "What do you mean there's going to be a war?"

"This treaty wasn't specific to say that it only applied to Carmen's coven," he explained. "The treaty said that no vampire in the area would bite a human. Therefore, by biting Bella, Victoria broke the agreement."

Laurent cursed under his breath. "What is going to happen now?"

Edward ran a hand through his messy hair. "We have a war on our hands, we're going to have to fight. There is no way out of this."

I whimpered, "Where is the rest of the family?"

"They left to get Carmen's coven," he replied, coming to sit with Laurent and I on the bed. "We're going to need back up for this one."

Laurent groaned. "This is my entire fault," he said, shaking his head. "If only I would have released the others from my control sooner. I hadn't anticipated the effects to take a minute to wear off…"

"There's no time for self-blame now, Laurent," Edward sighed. "All hell is about to break loose, and we're going to need your power on our side."

"You got it,"

"What about me?" I asked.

"No!" both men said in unison.

"You're not going to be a part of this," Edward growled. "I don't want to put you at risk like that."

"You're staying here," Laurent said, "Where it's safe."

I growled fiercely, shocking myself, as well as Edward and Laurent. "I can't stand by, and pace the room wondering whether or not any of you are coming home. I'm going to come and fight, too." I countered, jumping back off the bed, and placing my hands on my hips. "Alice and Rosalie are going to be there. Alice is even smaller then I am. I'm not breakable anymore."

"Alice has been a vampire a lot longer then you have," Edward retorted. "So has Rosalie. They have a lot more experience then you do."

"There is no way you have enough control of your strength to handle wolves," Laurent added. "It's much more dangerous for you then anyone else."

"You're staying, and that is that." Edward snapped. He stood up as well, coming to stand in front of me, his arms folded over his chest.

"You're both being ridiculous," I groaned, stepping away from Edward. "I can handle myself. I love you Edward, and I love your family. I care about you too Laurent, no matter how annoyingly arrogant you are. I can defend myself, and I have both of you, and the others to help me."

"No," Edward was still being stubborn.

Laurent looked at me sympathetically. "I could try and use my gift to weaken the wolves that try and attack Bella."

Edward looked surprised, "Can you do that?"

"I can control people," Laurent said, "Their movements, their strength, anything like that. I make them act the way I want them too."

I smiled, "Thank you, Laurent."

"Fine," Edward sighed. "I guess…I guess I still see you as my breakable Bella."

"I love you, Edward,"

Edward smiled sadly. "I love you too, Bella."

Laurent scoffed. "It's not like I don't find all this mushy crap adorable," he said with a smirk, "But… no, I lied. This mushy crap is making me sick. Can we go now?"

I laughed, and smacked him in the arm. "You're just jealous,"

"Oh darn," Laurent rolled his eyes, "You caught me." He said, sarcasm heavily attached to each word.

His thoughts must not have betrayed him, because Edward laughed too.

And we set off to face what could possibly be death. I gripped Edward's hand, as we stepped outside into the twilight. Edward squeezed my hand tightly, and Laurent placed a strong hand on my back. I may have been terrified, but at the same time, I felt somewhat protected.

We approached the huge clearing before the forest began, where the Cullens, as well as Carmen, Eleazar, Irina, Kate, and Tanya, were waiting for us. We joined the line, and saw the werewolves just a few feet in front of us; I recognized Jacob, he was the only reddish-brown wolf. But his eyes were unmistakable. I knew his eyes. Sam Uley was the biggest, the leader of the pack. I knew them, but no one else. I couldn't even tell who was in which pack.

I took a deep breath, as the wolves pounced at us.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only way we had any hope of killing the dogs, was if we bit them. Our venom was lethal to them. Instead of changing them, the venom worked like poison. Getting to their neck was the hard part. Laurent was doing a good job manipulating the werewolves, though. Thanks to him, a lot of them were weaker, and we all had the upper hand, since we were stronger.

Bodies crashed together, sounding something like thunder, growls ripping through the air often as well. Every vampire had a werewolf to fight, and it seemed as if we were going to win this war. No one was able to concentrate on any of the battles except their own. I didn't see any fire around though, so I knew that we hadn't lost anybody.

I leaped forward, tackling an unfamiliar wolf to the ground. His nails dug into the flesh of my arms, and I let out a yelp of pain. I felt a small amount of blood, and venom dripping down my arms. Snarling, I held his wrists tightly, my own nails puncturing his skin as well. I pushed his arms up over his head, as my teeth headed towards his neck. But at the last moment, he pushed his arms back up, and sent me flying backwards, almost hitting a tree in the process. Another growl ripped from my chest, as I flung myself back at him. He pounced at the same time I did, and our bodies collided, this time him pinning me to the ground. His claws ripped a slit over my stomach, cutting my shirt, and leaving a gash in my abdomen. I screamed, and the next thing I knew, he was flying off me, and landing right into Edward's clutches. His sharp teeth ripped into his neck, as the dog couldn't move. Laurent was busy with another dog, but he still managed to help Edward keep me save.

I took the free moment to look at the scene before me.

Carmen was struggling with one of the wolves, he had her pinned down, and was scratching at her. Eleazar was biting into a dog's wrist, before he pounced towards Carmen, pushing the werewolf off his wife.

Emmett had Sam on the ground too, and they were punching and scratching each other at an insanely fast speed. I had to look away, the speed confusing even my inhuman eyes.

Alice and Rosalie seemed to be doing very well. They were working together, fighting two werewolves at a time, their sharp nails piercing the dogs' skin.

Tanya and Irina each had their own separate dogs, and they seemed to be doing very well also. It appeared that together, we all had wiped out half of the opponents.

My eyes flew to Jacob. The only reason I knew it was him, was because of his eyes. Wolf or not, I knew those were his eyes. With all his strength, he pushed Tanya off of him, and backwards into another dog. Her fists immediately flew to him, abandoning Jacob, who seemed to have an evil glint in his eyes.

And that's when he pounced. He lowered himself into a crouch, and leapt at Edward, who, at the moment wasn't fighting anyone. He looked like he was about to go help Irina, who was struggling with another dog.

Before I realized what was happening, I flung myself forward, jumping in front of Edward. The only thing I could hear was my mind screaming, _Not him, not my Edward._

Jacob's body crashed into mine, as I blocked Edward out of the way. His claws dug into my neck, and then my shoulders, as he scratched at me, in an attempt to rip me to shreds. I screeched, and pushed my knees up, and pushed them into his stomach. He jumped back, and Edward took the opportunity to knock him to the ground, and off of me.

Rosalie and Alice were only fighting one wolf at the moment, and Alice left Rosalie to handle him on her own, and she leapt to my side, to make sure he hadn't damaged me too badly.

"This is ridiculous," I moaned, excruciating pain cutting through me like a knife. "The vampire responsible of this mess is dead."

The entire battlefield froze when a certain cat-like figure stepped into view. Her fiery red hair blew in the slight breeze, and a malicious grin revealed her perfect teeth.

"Guess again," she purred.

Edward and Jacob immediately separated, and Edward ran at full speed to my side. In an instant, all the vampires were crowded around near me, and the wolves were on the other side.

"Laurent," Victoria snarled.

He looked shocked, but his voice managed to stay cool. "Victoria,"

"Look at you, you're one of them," she said, looking into his butterscotch eyes. "_Weak_,"

"Actually," Laurent crossed his arms over his chest, and he stepped forward, in front of all of us. "Aren't you the weak one? Not strong enough to resist human blood…"

She snarled, "First you betray me, and then you turn around and become one of them," she looked disgusted. "You've gone soft…"

"But I'm not a killer anymore am I?" He wore his arrogant smirk, as bold as usual. What the hell was he doing? He was going to get himself killed! He was angering her on purpose.

"Like I said," Victoria's lips curled, "You've gone soft on me. I'm ashamed."

"Oh," Laurent said, with false embarrassment. "What ever will I do? I do not have Victoria's much sought after approval."

Victoria growled at him. "You will forever regret the day you betrayed me."

"Will I?" he snarled.

And that's when she pounced at him.


	22. Hysteria

**Haha. I bet I confused you there, with Victoria. Teehee. Have you forgotten she has a gift?**

**Also, if you are looking for a good oneshot, read this:**

**Fanfiction (dot) net/s/3329164/1/**

"_It's bugging me, grating me, and twisting me around. Yeah, I'm endlessly caving in, and turning inside out"  
_**Hysteria—Muse **

Victoria launched herself at Laurent, a crazed look in her burgundy eyes. I yelled his name in panic, and we all watched in horror as he crouched down, preparing himself for the clash. Victoria's cat-like figure hurtled into Laurent's strong form, knocking him to the ground.

One would think that by now I would have learned to expect the unexpected. However, I apparently had not, for I found myself being shocked again, when suddenly, Jacob threw himself at Victoria, pinning her to the ground, and snarling fiercely.

This power of Laurent's was super handy.

But when I looked over at Laurent, he looked just as surprised as the rest of us. He stood up, the astonishment still plastered across his face. All our eyes glued to the fight before us, as Victoria and Jacob each did their part to try and rip each other to shreds.

It happened so fast then. The vampires and werewolves were suddenly all on the same side, all against Victoria. The werewolves lunged forward, ripping Victoria away from Jacob, and shoving her to the ground. Victoria immediately pounced back up, and lunged at Sam. Emmett and Rosalie exchanged a look, before they both pounced into the fight. Soon, Carmen and Eleazar were in the brawl as well. Victoria was fighting back, but she was losing energy, since there were so many against her.

All of a sudden, she froze, just completely froze, as did the dogs and vampires fighting her. Her arms were stuck to her sides, her legs together, like a solider. Something told me that her opponents were unmoving by choice, though. I could tell Victoria wasn't. She was staring straight at Laurent, fuming angry. Laurent's arms were folding over his chest, and he was smiling smugly.

"What's wrong, Victoria?" he asked, "You stuck?"

Victoria opened her mouth to retort, but then her mouth froze, too, her mouth hanging open, mid word. I rolled my eyes. Laurent was having too much fun with this.

"Cat got your tongue?" he smirked. "Well… dog, rather. You get the idea, don't cha Vicky?"

The unmoving opponents took the opportunity to attack a frozen Victoria. I had to turn around and hide my face in Edward's shoulder, as I couldn't watch as they tore her to shreds, no matter how much I loathed her. His arms automatically went around me, and holding me tightly.

Soon all noise halted. I lifted my head to see Victoria's mangled body lying on the ground. Alice dug through her jacket pocket, and pulled out a small packet of matches, probably left over from when they killed Victoria the first time. I noticed she was wearing the same old blue jacket as that night.

She held up the match, and looked at Laurent. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"I'd love to," Laurent grinned evilly, and stepped forward, taking the match. He struck it against the box, and glowered at the body below him, as he dropped the match on Victoria, setting her aflame.

Victoria was dead, for real this time.

Sam and Edward exchanged a look, before he and the rest of the werewolves vanished into the forest.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"They want us to meet them," He explained. "I read Sam's mind. There's a cabin just passed these trees. They want to discuss the treaty. I think they might be seeing it from our point of view."

"This could be a trap," Tanya pointed out.

"I don't trust them Edward." Jasper said, folding his arms over his chest. "They might have something planned."

Carmen sighed, "But we don't have a choice," she said, "We have to go."

"We just have to be careful," Irina added.

Eleazar nodded. "They may just want to talk," he shrugged, "Or they maybe they have some sort of ulterior motive. They're dogs. God only knows what they could be planning."

Emmett growled. "Damn dogs…" he scowled. "I say we attack them the second we get there, let's not give them the chance to do it first."

"That is why you're not going," Edward hissed. "You stay behind with Bella. Alice, you stay with her too. As a matter of fact, Laurent, you stay as well. If they try something funny, your gift will be a lot more useful here."

Laurent and Alice nodded, but Emmett shot his brother a glare.

"There is no way that I am staying behind," Emmett growled, "I want to be there to fight them." He punched his right palm with his left fist.

"Emmett," Rosalie scoffed, "Just listen to Edward. We can't storm over there, pissed and irrational. We need to approach this situation calmly, and you're definitely not calm."

Emmett groaned. "Fine," he muttered.

"Thank you," Edward and Rosalie chorused.

My fiancé turned to me, a sad smile on his face. "You'll be safe with them, alright?" he placed his hand on the back of my neck, and kissed my forehead. "I'll be back soon," He pulled away, and started to walk off, with Rosalie, Jasper, and the Denali coven in tow.

He paused for a moment to spin around when I called his name. "Yes, Bella?"

"Be safe," I told him, my voice was dripping with concern. He smiled another sad smile, and disappeared into the trees.

I had no idea when, or if, I would see Edward again.


	23. Love is forever

**As you can see, I have obviously gotten a new penname. :D**

**See Kayleigh, I do luff you. XDD Right, Leelice?**

**Okay, so the magnetic force shoulder thing, that came from a conversation with Kayleigh, where we were talking about how Bella always seems to hide her face in Edward's chest a lot. Like chests vacuum her. XDD**

**And the "damn it all" thing came partly from L.C. So yeah.**

**In this chapter, you'll see exactly why Laurent changed, why Bella's words affected him so.**

Right, so on Tuesday I go back to school and updates will be a little less frequent. I'm sorry guys, but that's life. I'll still update at least once a week most of the time.

* * *

_It may sound absurd but don't be naive, even heroes have the right to bleed  
_**Superman—Five for Fighting **

_Be safe…_

My own words echoed in my mind, as I felt my entire body crashing down beneath the weight of the stress overcoming me. The worry caused my dead heart feel like it was cracking, breaking at the seams. I was truly, and inevitably scared. What if he wasn't safe? What if my angel never came home to me? What if I had already seen him for the last time?

I was drowning as the waves of fear crashed over me. I was choking as the fear crashed on top of me, crushing me like the ocean in the middle of the hurricane. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak. I couldn't even think of my beloved without feeling the pain again. The pain that I felt because I knew that I could lose him.

_Dear God, Edward please be safe. Please come home to me._

It wasn't only Edward who was in danger. Alice, Emmett, and Laurent may have been with me, but Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and Rosalie were not. Any one of them could be killed. Hell, they could all be killed. If those dogs had something planned… They could easily ambush them; take them by surprise and attack. There was a fifty-fifty chance that my family would come home.

I was silently hoping that some deity was hearing my prayers, and everything will turn out alright.

But would God answer the prayers of someone like me? Someone who wasn't human?

I fell backwards into the couch in the living room, feeling helpless. I looked up to be met with a similar expression from Alice. Her husband was out there too. She leaned back against the living room wall. Her forefingers were pressed against her temples, and her eyes were shut tightly. She wasn't getting any visions. I was hoping that it was a sign that nothing of serious consequence would come from the trip.

Emmett had a look of absolute torture on his face. He looked angry, but at the same time, as helpless as Alice and I. He was always able to save the day with his strength, able to protect his wife, and his family. Now, they were in some of the worst danger possible, and all he could do was sit. You could see in his eyes that he felt weak for the first time in his entire afterlife. He was helpless too.

Laurent's face was covered with nothing but concern. His honey eyes looked at me, soft and filled with sympathy. I'm sure he felt somewhat helpless too. He admitted to me that he considered me his best friend, and here I was, in the worst pain possible, and he could do nothing to stop it. Sighing, he came over and sat next to me. Overcome with weakness, my head fell to his shoulder, as if there was some sort of magnetic force pulling it. Laurent just put an arm around me, and gave me a loving squeeze.

I heard Alice groan in aggravation. "God dammit!" she screeched. Her voice was somewhat shrill, filled with panic. "Damn this power, damn those stupid dogs, damn it all!"

"What's wrong Alice?" I asked, lifting my head. "I mean, besides the obvious."

She shook her head. "I can't see anything at all," she said, opening her eyes. "It's like the future is completely blank, all I see is blackness."

_Well, that's reassuring._

"Blackness…?" Emmett echoed, tossing an apple from hand to hand absentmindedly. There must have been food left over from when I was human here. With his speed, the fruit just looked like a flying flash of green.

"It's like I can't see anything involving the dogs," she shook her head. "I suddenly understand Edward's frustration, not being able to read Bella's mind. It's like I'm running into a brick wall or something."

His name sent a stab of pain into my dead heart. The shock of it made me stumble backwards, and Alice's hands flew to my shoulders, steadying me. I noticed then that my wounds in my shoulders, arms, and stomach were almost healed already. All of our battle wounds were fading. Such a shame that the pain in my chest didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"Are you okay?" Alice's voice called to me, concerned.

I nodded, and realized that I was now sitting on the couch, leaning on my sister, one of her thin arms around me. Emmett was on the other side of me, sharing the couch as well, and Laurent was kneeling on the floor in front of me.

"You scared us for a second there, Bella." Emmett chuckled.

I blinked. "What happened…?"

"You almost fell over," Laurent explained, pushing a brown lock away from my eyes. "Alice pushed you over here so fast, it must have disoriented you."

"Edward will be fine," Alice used the arm wrapped around me to press my body tighter to hers for a moment, in a hug sort of gesture. "They're all going to be fine."

I nodded mechanically, and took in a deep breath. "I think I need some air," I announced. Alice withdrew her arm, and I stood up. Laurent stood up too, and stepped out of my way, so I could go out towards the back door.

"Want me to come?" Emmett offered.

I shrugged. "If you want to," I told him, and I walked outside.

The rose petals and candles were long gone, but the feeling of that night still lingered here. I stepped into the same area where Edward had been standing, as if the circle of petals were still there. I closed my eyes, as I felt a breeze blow over, causing my hair to fly around with the wind. I could see his face, his eyes, and his beautiful smile.

_I love you, Bella_ a velvety voice whispered in my ear, and I dropped to my knees. Dear God, I was hearing his _voice_. I felt dry sobs wrack my body, as all my worries from before smashed on top of me again, knocking the wind out of me. Soon I felt strong arms encase me, and I started crying into Emmett's chest.

"It's okay," he cooed softly, patting my back gently. "He is going to be okay, Bella."

"How do you know?" I sobbed.

He sighed sadly. "The same way I know Rose is going to be alright."

I lifted my head, to look at his face. "And how is that?"

He touched the tip of my nose with his index finger, and said one word.

"Faith,"

I managed a weak smile, and he ruffled my hair, a smile crossing his lips as well. "Thank you, Emmett."

"No problem little sis," he said, helping me stand up. "No problem at all."

I couldn't help but grin, as he pulled me into a brotherly hug. Edward and I hadn't even exchanged vows yet, but Emmett already considered me a sister. As he pulled away, I couldn't help but think, _I just hope we actually get to have the wedding._

_Faith, _Edward's velvet voice commanded. _Have faith, my love._

I hoped faith was enough… But when Edward's melodic voice said it, it brought me even more hope then it did when Emmett had said it. Slowly, I was starting to feel less helpless.

"Better?" Emmett asked, a wry smile adorning his perfect face.

I smiled too, "A little bit."

"Good," he nodded. "I want to check on Alice. See if she has seen anything, ya know? Will you be okay by yourself?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Thanks, again Emmett."

And I was alone.

I looked up at the sky, observing the stars above me, my points of light and reason. If I was Edward's meteor, he must have been my moon. He brought light to my once loveless life. It was eerily dark tonight. There was no moon out tonight. It was the night of a new moon.

How ironic…

"Hello," Laurent said, walking to stand next to me. He looked up at the stars as I was, thoughtful about something. I silently wondered what he was thinking about.

"Hello," I returned, my voice almost light sounding, my eyes never leaving the star covered sky.

A few moments of silence passed between us, the two of us lost in our own separate thoughts. I was thinking about Edward, naturally. I was staring at the brightest star in the sky. It wasn't giving off as much light as the moon would, but it was making things just a little bit brighter.

That was faith.

"Hey Laurent…"

"Mmhmm…?"

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked.

He blinked and looked down at me, completely taken aback by my question. He stared at me for a few moments, before finally saying, "What?"

"Love," I said, my voice thoughtful. "Have you ever been in love?"

He sighed. "Once,"

He caught my interest. "With whom?"

"It was in my human life," he replied. His eyes clouded over, filled with ancient grief. "Her name was Rebecca."

I frowned, "What happened to her?"

"She—"he paused. "She was killed,"

"I'm sorry," I said, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "What happened? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"A vampire attacked us both," he replied. Sadness tainted his usual cocky tone. "I tried to protect her, so he bit me first, and went after her. When he came back to finish me, it was too late."

I shook my head. "That's awful, I'm—I'm so sorry!"

He gave me a light squeeze, and dropped his arm. I looked up into his eyes. They were sad, but intense.

"That's why I had to save you," he murmured. "You were so innocent. You had done nothing wrong. You were just this sweet girl whose scent appealed to the wrong vampire, just like Rebecca. I thought about how I felt when I realized what happened. Living one day without her… that was hard enough, but living an eternity, I didn't think I could do it. If I had let Victoria kill you, I would be doing to Edward what that vampire did to me. I would never wish that pain on anyone."

"Oh, Laurent!" I said. I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He hugged me back, and I felt him shaking slightly, with silent, tearless sobs. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what else to say! I—"

"It's okay," he said, pulling away gently, and looking me in the eyes. "I'm better now. I came to terms with it decades ago. She's somewhere safe now," he looked up at the sky again. "Where monsters can't hurt her anymore."

I sighed, and he looked at my eyes again, and shook his head.

"That's why your words at the mall struck me so hard. I was doing that to people every day. I was no better then that monster that ripped Rebecca away from me. I _was_ a monster. I think that's how I'm able to do it now, why I'm strong enough. Any time I get tempted, I just think of Rebecca."

"But I thought human memories fade?" I blinked, and touched his arm comfortingly.

"Love is forever, Bella."


	24. My Immortal

_Who put the words in your head? Oh, how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying.  
_**Our Lady of Sorrows—My Chemical Romance**

"Love is forever," I echoed.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence after that. Eventually I sat myself down on the concrete, and lay on my back, looking up at the stars again. I felt Laurent sit down next to me, but neither of us said a word.

After about a half hour or so, Alice and Emmett came out to join us. I offered them both a weak smile, and Alice came to lie down next to me. Emmett took a seat next to Laurent. All of our eyes were fixated on the sky.

It wasn't until sunrise until anyone spoke up again.

"Let's play a game," Emmett said, jumping up, and clapping his hands together once. "It's like somebody died around here."

Laurent snorted. "No pun intended, huh?"

"Uh, yeah..." Emmett replied, momentarily defeated. But, like I said, only momentarily, it was Emmett after all. A few seconds later, he was bouncing on his toes again. "Alright, so, can we play a game or not?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't think anyone here is in a game mood."

Emmett huffed, "Come on guys," he said. "We can't just sit here. Who knows when they're coming back? We gotta do something to get our minds off of things."

"Like what, Emmett?" Alice sighed, sitting up, and folding her arms over her chest. "We're in the middle of a freaking war. We can't just run and play baseball in the middle of a tragedy."

He shrugged. "What did Shakespeare do in the midst of his tragedies?"

"Have the main characters kill themselves?" Laurent replied.

"No!" Emmett retorted, as he stood up. His face turned thoughtful for a moment, and he added "Well, actually yes. But, that's not what I'm getting at."

"What _are_ you getting at, Emmett?" I asked, annoyed. Killing myself was the only thing that could keep my mind off Edward, not that it was an option or anything.

"Comedic relief!" he replied, throwing his arms in the air.

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Uh huh…" she said.

He groaned impatiently, "Fine," he snapped, sitting back down on the floor. "Be that way. I was just trying to lighten the mood…"

"Great job, pal" Laurent rolled his eyes.

Emmett's eyes narrowed. "I don't see you trying to help at all."

"Yes," Laurent replied. "Because pretending as if nothing is wrong is going to help…"

"Shut up," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "You're both being immature."

Laurent folded his arms over his chest. "He started it,"

I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I ended up having three pairs of eyes staring curiously at me.

"Laurent," I said, finally stopping the laughter. "You just proved Alice's point."

Emmett snorted, "Ha, ha." He chuckled. "You got in trouble."

I glowered at him, "You too,"

"Ha, ha," Laurent mocked. "You got in trouble, too."

All of a sudden, the door behind us opened, and closed. I heard the squeaking of the bolts that were way overdue for an oiling, and I jumped. I turned around, expecting to see Edward. Instead, I saw Jacob.

"Dog!" Laurent growled. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Edward?" I asked instantly.

"…and Rosalie?" Emmett added.

Alice's eyes widened, "and Jasper!"

"They're still at the cabin," Jacob answered, shooting Laurent a glare, a late reaction to referring to him as 'dog' "I came to speak to Bella,"

"You're not being left alone with her," Emmett snapped.

Alice scoffed, "First you attack her, and now you want to talk? Somehow I doubt that's all you plan on doing."

I gulped. Jacob wouldn't, would he? After all, he hadn't intended on hurting me today, I jumped in front of Edward, his real target. Then again, that wasn't much better.

"Leave," Laurent demanded, "You're not wanted here."

Jacob narrowed his eyes. "Bloodsuckers disgust me," he spat. "You think you're so much better then everyone else. Let me tell you something, you're not."

Laurent shrugged. "Your disgust is most certainly reciprocated," he retorted. "Filthy dog…"

Jacob's face brought the phrase, 'staring daggers' to my mind.

"That means 'I hate you too,'" Alice added. "Sorry, Laurent must have carelessly forgotten about your small brain capacity for a moment."

Emmett threw his head back to laugh. "OOO!" he grinned. "Need some ice for that burn? I'm sure it STINGS!"

Jacob growled, and folded his hand into a fist. Before anyone could say anything, he was swinging his hand at Alice's face. Before he could hit her however, Emmett held up his hand, and caught Jacob's fist, only a few inches from Alice's nose.

"Nice try," Emmett growled. "But you never hit a lady,"

"Lady?" Jacob scoffed, "You have to be human to be considered a lady."

"Guys," I said with a sigh. "You guys are being pathetic. Edward, Jasper, Rosalie, and our parents are out there with wolves, and we don't know when they will be back, and you're sitting there, fighting like little children."

"Uh, Bella," Alice interjected.

"I'm not done!" I snapped. "And Emmett, I appreciate you trying to help and all, but comedic relief is certainly not going to help right now. And fighting with Laurent certainly isn't going to solve anything."

Laurent rolled his eyes, "Bella,"

"And there is no reason for you," I pointed to Laurent, "to snap at Emmett like that. He was just trying to help. Just because it didn't help," Emmett frowned, "doesn't mean you have a right to speak to him like that."

Emmett sighed, "Bella, seriously…"

"And you!" I glowered at Jacob, pointing at him accusingly. "Jacob, I don't know what you're doing here, but you are certainly not welcome. Especially since it seems you have only come to insult our family. I want to know where Edward, and his siblings are, and I want to know now!"

"BELLA!" All three of them shouted.

I groaned, "WHAT!?"

"Bella," a voice said from behind me. "You need to be a bit nicer to my siblings. After all, they're going to be your family too, soon."

My eyes widened, and I spun around. My eyes were met with Edward and his family, watching us with very amused looks on their faces. I immediately launched myself into Edward's arms. He caught me easily, but I heard him gasp in pain, and step backwards.

He carefully set me back on the ground, and my breath hitched in my chest when I actually got a good look at him.

Edward and the rest of his family really looked like they had been ambushed. Their clothes had been ripped, their bodies scratched. They were covered in mud. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was looking at the victims of an explosion of some kind.

Noticing my gaping, he said, "You can thank your pal Jacob."

My eyes grew, and I turned to meet Jacob's eyes. "YOU MONSTER," I shouted. "HOW COULD YOU!? I WAS ATTACKED! IT WASN'T THE CULLEN'S FAULT! HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THEM TO DO THIS TO MY FAMILY!?"

A cold hand touched my shoulder. "Bella," I heard Esme say, "He meant that you can thank Jacob for our return."

If it would have been possible, my face would have paled. "What…?" I said softly.

Emmett had wrapped an arm around his wife, and he was picking her up gently. "Yeah, what?" he asked, just as confused as I was.

Alice looked distraught, and Jasper was running his fingers through her short pixy hair, talking to her in a hushed tone.

"They had planned on attacking," Rosalie explained. "But Jacob stopped them. He said that the treaty on our side was broken a long time ago, when he told Bella the legends in the first place. Even though he didn't know they were true at time, he still had wolf in his blood, and he was still bound by the treaty."

I blinked. "But," I said softly. "But you just said that we disgusted you. Why would you bother helping us? I'm not complaining. I'm just… confused."

"I still care about you, Bella." He replied shrugging. "I may hate what you are, and who you hang around with, but I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

Edward stood behind me, and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "Whatever the reason," He said. "You made it so I could come home to my Bella. And for that, I thank you."

Jacob nodded once. "We won't be bothering you again," he said. "Our pack will be returning to Washington. We won't tell anyone that we saw you. You can return to hiding in peace."

"Thank you, Jacob," I whispered, still partly in shock.

"Bye Bells," he said, offering me a small smile.

I returned the smile, "Goodbye Jake."

With that, my family and I watched in silence as Jacob trudged back into the forest. Jacob Black had saved us that night, and I would never forget my old friend, not even in a million years.

"Let's go inside Bella," Edward's voice made me pull my eyes away from the forest.

I nodded, and took one last glance at the trees. Jacob Black was no longer a part of my life. He was part of my past, a part of the life I left behind when I came to Denali in the first place. When I walked inside with Edward that night, it became official that I had abandoned that life entirely. From that moment on, it was just Edward and I, along with his family, and perhaps Laurent, for the rest of eternity. Nothing remained of my human life, except for a few memories that would soon fade.

I was immortal, with an immortal love, and immortal family, and an immortal best friend.

This was the true meaning of bliss.


	25. Your Guardian Angel

**Well guys, guess what? There are only three chapters left; this, the wedding, and an epilogue. **

**I'm working on my next story right now. It's going to be called: ****You Can't Fight Fate**

**You can thank Emilie for today's quote. She saved me a lot of time, I didn't have to quote searching, she just handed this one to me. Obviously, we both love MCR.**

* * *

_"When you go just know that I will remember you. I've lost my fear of falling, I will be with you."  
_**It's Not a Fashion Statement; It's a Deathwish—MCR**

**Two months later…**_  
_

"Isabella Marie Swan, get down here!"

Alice's voice rang through our entire house. I don't know why she bothered to yell. With vampire hearing, she could just speak at a normal level, and I could hear her all the way upstairs.

"Gah…" I groaned, as I buried my face in my pillow, and hid under the blankets. "What did I do now?"

"You are truly adorable when you're frustrated," Edward said, pulling me closer to his bare chest, to leave a trail of kisses down my neck. I shivered at the touch, and rolled over to face him, and he moved his lips to mine. He attempted to deepen the kiss when…

"Bella!"

I pulled away, and swore under my breath. Stupid Alice had to go about ruining our moment. Edward chuckled, as I rolled out of bed, and went to the closet, to get dressed. What could she possibly want?

"What does she want?" I asked, pulling on a pair of jeans. "Just so I'm warned…"

Edward chuckled. "I'll tell you that, when you tell me when you got that little outfit."

If I could have, I would have blushed. He was referring to the lingerie set that Alice had bought me that day in the mall. The one I was currently wearing, underneath a pair of jeans, and one of Edward's old t-shirts, that I was now pulling over my head. Instead of replying, I just gave him a sheepish grin, and ducked out the door. That was one question I'd prefer not to answer.

I scurried down the stairs, gracefully. This vampire thing, yeah, it was real good for my health. I wouldn't have to worry about dying because I tripped down the stairs, or walked in front of a bus anymore. Grace was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

I got to the living room, and Alice was waiting for me, bouncing on her toes.

I wasn't in trouble. It was much, much worse. Alice was excited about something. Oh crap, that couldn't possibly be good. When Alice is excited about something, it usually involves me being her personal Barbie doll, or taking me shopping. I'd rather jump off a cliff.

"Bella! Guess what!" She squealed.

I winced. Here goes…

"Laurent is going to get married!"

I blinked. Well, that wasn't exactly what I was expecting to hear. Was I hallucinating? Or did she just say Laurent was going to get married? Either I was hallucinating, or Alice was on crack. Could vampires actually be on crack?

"Did you hear me?" She asked. Dear God, she was still bouncing.

"Are you on crack?"

Alice stopped. "What?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. I just thought you said Laurent was getting married."

"I did."

"To who…?" I exclaimed, "He's not even dating anyone!"

Alice laughed, and tapped her head. "He will be…"

I sighed. "Oh,"

She nodded frantically. Okay, so now Laurent was getting married. My best friend was getting married. I knew it, Alice knew it, but Laurent didn't even know it.

"So," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"So what?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

I rolled my eyes, "Who is he going to marry?"

Alice beamed. "Tanya."

"Tanya," I echoed with a smile. "I like Tanya. She's sweet. She'll be good for him."

Alice was about to speak, when the front doors swung open. Laurent was home. Ever since the Jacob incident, Laurent had been staying in the guest bedroom. We all got along nicely. Even he and Emmett had formed some sort of a friendship. Well, they weren't exactly close, but they didn't try to rip each other's throats out, which was good enough.

"Hey girls," Laurent said with a smile.

"Heya," Alice greeted. "Bella, meet me upstairs. Since the wedding is in a week, we have a few last minute things to work out, alright?"

I nodded, and she skipped away, and up the stairs. No joke, she literally skipped. Drugs once again crossed my mind.

"So, what's up doll face?"

I rolled my eyes at my nickname. Truth be told, I really didn't mind it. It bothered Edward at first, but once I convinced him that Laurent and I were like brother and sister to each other, he backed off a bit. He still kept an eye on him though, in case he decided that we wanted me as more then a sister. But now that he was getting married…

"Nothing really," I lied. I couldn't hide my grin though, so I ended up caught.

"Liar," he scoffed.

"I'm just in a good mood," I shrugged. "Anything new with you?"

"Well," he said with a small smile. "I have a date,"

I grinned, and bounced a little on my toes. "With who!?" I asked. I realized that I probably looked as ridiculous as Alice had. As I realized this, I stopped bouncing. I didn't want anyone to think I was the one on drugs.

"Tanya,"

"Ooh!" I squealed. "I like her, she's a sweetheart. She's good for you."

He grinned, "Yeah, I like her too, obviously."

I tried to speak, but again, Alice ruined it.

"Oh Bella…." She sang. I could practically see her bouncing in the center of her bedroom.

I rolled my eyes, my enthusiasm was fading quickly. Alice's perkiness would get annoying someday. No matter how much I loved her, eternity was a really long time. With a sigh, I trudged up the stairs to her bedroom. I heard the beautiful song from outside the room, and once I entered, and heard the lyrics pumping from the speakers, I was sold.

_When I see your smile  
__tears roll down my face  
__I can't replace. _

_And now that I'm strong I have figured out  
__how this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul,  
__and I know I'll find deep inside me, I can be the one. _

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever  
__I'll be there for you through it all,  
__even if saving you sends me to heaven. _

_It's ok  
__It's ok  
__It's ok _

_Seasons are changing and waves are crashing  
__and stars are falling all for us  
__days grow longer and nights grow shorter  
__I can show you I'll be the one. _

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever.  
__I'll be there for you through it all,  
__even if saving you sends me to heaven. _

_Cause you're my  
__you're my, my  
__my true love  
__my whole heart  
__please don't throw that away. _

"That," I said, pointing to the stereo, "that is our song."

Alice, who was sitting on the bed, with her legs crossed, and magazines spread around her, cocked her head to the side. "What song?"

Rosalie, the wedding expert, knew exactly what I was talking about. She grinned, and nodded feverishly. "Their wedding song! The one that they have their first dance to!"

"Oh!" Alice squealed. "Bella, I love it!"

I grinned. "Do you think Edward will like it?"

I heard a soft musical laughter come from behind me, and saw Edward standing in the doorway. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and a black turtleneck. My smile widened, and he came to stand next to me, and snaked an arm around my waist.

"I think," He said, "that he will love it."

"Good," Rosalie replied, "because we were going to choose it whether he liked it, or not."

"One week," Edward said, kissing me on the cheek. "We are going to be married in one week."

"One week," I echoed.

I was still in shock. If someone told me two years ago, that I was going to marry someone as beautiful, as wonderful, and as perfect as Edward Cullen, I would have referred them to a very nice doctor, who would probably introduce them to a straightjacket. I still had trouble believing that he was truly mine, and we really had an eternity to spend together.

One week. I would be Isabella Marie Masen Cullen in one week. That's seven days. In seven days I would be a Cullen.

_Cause I'm here, for you  
__please don't walk away and  
__please tell me you'll stay, stay.._

_Use me as you will  
__pull my strings just for a thrill  
__and I know I'll be okay  
__though my skies are turning gray._

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever  
__I'll be there for you through it all  
__even if saving you sends me to heaven._

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever  
__I'll be there for you through it all  
__even if saving you sends me to heaven._

This was going to be one hell of an eternity.

* * *

**The song is "Your Guardian Angel" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. **

**I'm not sure if I like this chapter all that much either. It's mainly just filler fluff. Next is the wedding!**

**Oh, and if I didn't mention a guest room before, I'm mentioning it now, kay? XD**


	26. I do

**(Sorry for the lack of creativity and the using the first paragraph almost directly from Seduction.)**

**Oh, and a story on the site caught my eye, and it made me, and my friend Emilie rather upset. _Secrets, Loyalty, and the Very Best of Betrayals_ by theUionceknew completely rips off Emilie's amazing story _God Bless Catastrophe._**

**So, I have a little announcement to make….**

**Writing fanfiction is loads of fun. I know this. That's why I have tons of stories. However, what makes fanfiction fun, is coming up with your own nifty ideas, and sharing them. But if you're ripping off other people's work, you're not being creative, your being a jerk. Kay? Get your own ideas people. And if you have, good for you, have a cookie.**

**End rant.**

* * *

Edward and I had kept our tradition, and we would still lie together in bed at night. Neither of us slept, but usually we would just hold each other, and drift off into as close to sleep as we could get, daydreaming in silence. Other nights we would talk, sometimes all night, until the early hours of the morning, where we would usually lapse into our peaceful silence once more. Of course, some nights we passed our time in other, more intimate, ways.

Today I was without Edward. He had been kidnapped early in the morning, by his brothers. So, I was alone, thinking back; letting one of my human memories play back in my head. In a few years, I wouldn't be able to do things like this, so why not take advantage of it?

_We were standing at the foot of the stairs, and Edward had kissed me for the second time. As embarrassing as it was, I had actually collapsed into his arms. That power he had over me was terrible. Even as a vampire he still could dazzle me. It wasn't fair._

_"Bella?" His voice was alarmed as he caught me and held me up._

_"You...made...me...faint," I accused him dizzily._

_"What am I going to do with you?" He groaned in exasperation. "Yesterday I kiss you, and you attack me! Today you pass out on me!"_

I had planned on reflecting on a bit more, but then I felt someone rapidly stabbing me in the arm with what felt like a butcher knife. My eyes snapped over, and my head turned to the side to see Alice, poking me several times with her index finger.

"Ouch!" I squealed, pulling my arm back so hard, that I tumbled out of bed and on to the floor.

Alice snickered. "Oh, stop being such a baby, Izzy."

"Ew," I wrinkled my nose. "Never, _ever_, call me that ever again."

Alice chuckled, "Alright."

Suddenly something hit me, and I jumped to my feet, as my eyes widened to the size of golf balls.

"Oh my god!" I squealed, staring at Alice with my wide burgundy eyes, not blinking.

Alice giggled. "You know what happens today?"

I blinked. "Oh my god, I'm getting married."

Today was October 16th.

It was my wedding day. The week had passed, and I was getting married to Edward at twilight. Without sleep, keeping track of the days was difficult. The days blended together, like a mass of hours, dates almost undistinguishable.

But, judging by the look on Alice's face, it was safe to assume that I was correct. Holy freaking crap, I was getting married.

"We gotta get started," a voice said from the doorway. "We got some work to do before you're ready to walk down that aisle."

I snapped my head to Rosalie. Oh crap. I had two hyperactive vampires wanting to turn me into their own personal Barbie doll. That was a scary thought.

"Rosalie?" I asked, confused. "You want to help?"

"Of course," she said, offering me a tiny smile. "We're not going to be best friends anytime soon, but I suppose it's about time I accept you as a sister."

I smiled back. "I can live with that,"

"Okay, makeover time!" Alice exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

I shot Rosalie a nervous glance, and she giggled.

"Don't worry," Alice cooed.

"Don't worry!?" I exclaimed, as Rosalie grabbed me by the wrists, and started pulling me towards her bedroom. "That's like an oxymoron when you two, and make up are involved!"

They cackled as they shoved me into the bathroom. Cackling; that was a sign, a very bad sign. They sat me down in a chair in front of the sink, with my bath facing the mirror.

"I suppose this should be considered an act of compassion?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest. "Not allowing me to watch my own torture?"

Rosalie grinned. "You could look at it that way."

"And we're not torturing you, Bella." Alice scoffed, pulling a straightening iron out from under the sink. Well, at least they weren't curling my hair…

"Yes you are," I snapped. "I hated Barbies when I was a kid. My cousins used to rip their heads off. Now I am being forced to become one. That is torture."

The two didn't respond. They just rolled their eyes, and proceeded to poke and prod at my hair, much to my dissatisfaction. This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

Several hours later, the two girls stepped back to admire their work. They were smiling, and nodding, whispering to each other in hushed tones. With my hearing, I could have heard their conversation if I had concentrated. However, I didn't bother.

Suddenly, Alice made a face.

"Oops," she said.

"What!?" I screeched. Oops? Oops was bad, very bad. Oh God, Alice said 'oops,' after giving me a makeover, an hour before by wedding. That basically meant that I was screwed. That was like a doctor who gave the wrong person heart surgery, or someone clipping the wrong wires, and a bomb exploding.

Oops was very bad.

They both laughed, and Alice wiped my cheek with her thumb, quickly, and then stepped back, smiling.

"There," she announced. "There we go, all better."

"There was some eyeliner smeared on your cheek." Rosalie clarified.

"Wait, a smudge of eyeliner?" I blinked. I could feel the shock on my face. I tried to keep my voice calm, but it had an edge of hysteria to it.

"Yep," Rosalie nodded, wiping non-existent sweat off her forehead, with the back of her hand. "That would have been embarrassing."

"That was it!?" I said, my voice getting louder with each word.

They nodded, their eyes wide. I think they probably thought I was insane.

"God," I huffed, taking in a deep breath. "I thought you singed my hair off or something."

Rosalie laughed. "Do you really think we would do that to you?"

I blinked. "Not on purpose."

"Okay, whatever, dress time." Alice said, waving her hand dismissively.

* * *

After much effort, we finally had gotten the dress on me. Alice, Rosalie, and I had gone shopping shortly after the Jacob incident. (They had to make sure they had healed completely first, which took a few days.) The dress was absolutely gorgeous.

It was a strapless, white dress, with a bell like shape to it. Above my waist was like a corset, and it was laced in beads. Wrapped around my waist was a black ribbon. One of the strands reached my knee, and the other was a few inches longer. Below the ribbon, the dress puffed out a bit, and swished when I walked. In a word, it was perfect.

"You look beautiful, Bella." Rosalie said, as she fluffed my hair quickly. It was pin straight, and it ran all the way down to my mid-back. I was still shocked by the fact that I would never need a hair cut again.

Alice grinned. "Edward is going to be speechless when he sees you,"

"I hope he can manage out an 'I do'" I said, twiddling my thumbs.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you've got cold feet."

"No, no." I shook my head. "But what if Edward does?"

Alice scoffed. "Right, like that's going to happen."

"It could," I sighed.

"Just shut up and let us get dressed," Rosalie said. "Edward is not going to leave you at the altar. He loves you, and he will stop at nothing to put a wedding ring on your finger. I may not have seen it before, but it's obvious now."

"Thanks Rose," I smiled.

"Anytime," She said.

* * *

Carlisle would be performing the ceremony, and we were having it at home, outside under the moonlight. Esme, Tanya, Carmen, Irina, and Kate had decorated the outside deck, probably the same way Edward had for the proposal. The decorations were in good hands.

Soon, Alice and Rosalie were making their way downstairs, dressed and ready. Their dresses were gorgeous, as well.

The dress was black, to match with me, and flat in the front. But the back was ruffled, from the mid-back to the bottom. It was strapless too, and it reached the floor.

Alice and Rosalie were my bride's maids, and I had chosen Esme as my maid of honor. She had been the mother that I needed through all this hell and she deserved to be honored as the important woman that she was.

Since Charlie couldn't walk me down the aisle for obvious reasons, Laurent was to be the one to do it. He was my best friend, and had been my support system when Edward was away fighting Jacob. He was there for me when I needed him, and I was there for him, too. He was going to be there for me now.

Besides the fact, neither of my brothers could do it anyway. Emmett was best man, and Jasper was the ring-bearer. That was decided only because Jasper was best man at Emmett's last wedding, so it was Emmett's turn. Laurent had to be there for me some how, he was too important to me not to.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. That had to be Laurent. Holy crap, I was about to be married. I jumped up from the bed, and ran to the door. If my heart would have still been beating, it would be pounding through my chest.

I turned the knob, and stepped into the hall. Laurent flashed me a smile, and took my arm. I took in a deep, unnecessary breath, and Laurent chuckled.

"You ready for this, doll face?" he asked, leading me to the stairs.

"I am," I stopped at the top step, and nodded.

He kissed me on the cheek. "You look lovely, by the way."

I grinned, "Thanks, handsome."

Laurent did look rather handsome. He was wearing a white tux, with a black tie. All the women were in black, except Esme and I. She had her own special maid of honor dress. All the men were in black, except Edward. Alice had it all color coordinated.

We descended down the stairs, and around through the living room, and then the kitchen. We stopped right in front of the back door. The small audience stood up, and my lullaby started playing through speakers that hung on the outside walls of the house.

I gasped, I hadn't been expecting _that_.

Laurent pulled a little on my arm, and we started down the aisle. We walked in-between the two sections of chairs. I scanned the audience, and was shocked at what I saw, that I almost thought I was going to fall over.

On one side was the Denali coven, an empty spot next to Tanya, reserved for her current boyfriend, Laurent. The other side contained people that I had never seen before.

There were three males, and a female. The first male seemed as if he was the eldest. His skin was so pale, that it was almost translucent. To me, it resembled onion skin. His hair was jet black, and his eyes were burgundy.

The male next to him had the same pale, onion-like skin, and burgundy eyes. His hair reached his shoulders, and was as white as his skin.

The third gentleman also had the old skin, and the burgundy eyes. He had black hair like the first male, but it was very long. Much longer then the second guy's hair had been.

The female was sitting next to the first gentleman, on the other side. She was very, very small, even smaller then Alice. Her hair was brown, and trimmed short. When she looked at me, I saw that she had the fierce burgundy eyes as well. I noticed she was very beautiful.

Laurent's grip on my arm tightened as the female looked at me, and he gave her a warning glare. I wondered for a moment what that was about. I looked up at him, questions in my eyes. He shook his head, and bobbed it in Edward's direction, telling me to look at him.

When I did, my breath hitched in my throat. He looked amazing, the black of the tux contrasting with his pale skin, and making him look like he was almost glowing. I noticed him staring at me as well, and I smiled sheepishly.

When we finally reached the end of the walkway, Laurent gave me a quick hug, before departing to take a spot next to Tanya. I smiled as I watched him wrap an arm around her. _Soon, he will be up here._

I stood in front of Edward, and he took my hands in his, causing me to grin. Carlisle started speaking, but I wasn't even paying attention. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts, staring into Edward's beautiful topaz eyes. Suddenly though, his eyes turned urgent, and they flashed between Carlisle and I.

I blinked, and Carlisle raised an eyebrow at me. "Bella…?"

If I could, I would have blushed. I had been too lost in Edward's eyes, and my own musings, that I hadn't even heard my cue.

"Oh, right, that's my line," I said, and Edward watched me with nervous eyes, his body somewhat stiff.

I took a deep breath. "I do."

I heard mutable sighs of relief come from the audience, but the most obvious was from Edward. I just smiled apologetically.

Next thing I knew, Edward's velvet voice whispered, "I do."

The next line, I actually heard. It was Carlisle finally saying, "You may now kiss the bride."

Edward's lips were on mine then, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, as he spun me around once. I heard the audience clap, as Edward sat me down on the ground in front of him.

He brushed a strand of hair away from my face. "You scared the crap out of me, you know that?"

I giggled, "I'm sorry," I said, placing a hand on his cheek. "It's your fault, Mr. I Dazzle People."

Edward laughed, and wrapped his arms around me again. He kissed the top of my hair, and I snuggled close to his chest.

"Come on, Mrs. Cullen," he said, pulling away, and grinning. "I believe we have a wedding reception to get to."

I took his hand in mine, "Well, what are we waiting for then?"

And the star-crossed lovers stepped into the twilight.


	27. Epilogue—Heaven

**Epilogue—Heaven**

_Baby you're all that I want, when I'm lying here in your arms. I'm finding it hard to believe, we're in heaven.  
_**Heaven—DJ Sammy**

A bright smile crossed my face as Edward and I walked through the doors of our huge Alaskan home. We had just arrived home from our honeymoon. It had been two weeks of pure bliss, and now we were finally home.

This time, Edward had taken me to Italy. It was the rainy season, so we could sight-see during the day, without fear of being exposed. We had traveled all over the country. We visited Rome, Venice, Verona, and even Volterra. I had never been there before, and that was where that coven that had come to our wedding had traveled from. They were all rather nice, but the female scared me a bit. I wasn't the only one, either. All of my family seemed nervous around her. I didn't understand why though, she was such a tiny little thing.

"Luuucy, we're hoooome!" I shouted, dropping my bags at the foot of the stairs. Edward did the same, and we both laughed as the entire family came running down the stairs.

"Welcome home!" Alice's peppy figure immediately threw her arms around her brother and me, and offered us a huge smile.

Emmett hugged me next, and to my surprise, he winked at me. I raised an eyebrow, and he chuckled. Edward shot him a glare, and he laughed even harder.

"Did you guys have fun?" he asked.

I was grateful for the fact that I couldn't blush any longer, for if I could, I would have been beet red.

Edward glowered for a moment, as Rosalie smacked his arm. I really didn't know exactly how to respond to that. Stupid purvy Emmett…

"As a matter of fact," Edward said, winking. "We had a lot of fun."

My eyes widened, and I looked at my husband in disbelief. Did he just say what I thought he did? Holy crap, he did.

"It's okay, doll face." Laurent chuckled, and pulled me into a small hug. "It's not like we didn't know already."

"That was still uncalled for," Rosalie said, smacking her husband in the back of his head. "Perverts…"

Jasper chuckled, "Hey, we're guys, what do you expect?"

"Shut up, Jasper." Alice said, glaring daggers at her spouse. "Just because you're guys doesn't mean you can't have any respect."

"We do show respect," Laurent retorted.

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

Edward sighed, "God, we just get home, and we're already arguing."

"You started it," I snapped.

"Actually," Jasper said, pointing at Emmett, "He started it."

"Oh come on," Emmett said, folding his arms over his broad chest. "I was only joking around."

"Whatever," Alice scoffed, "New topic, please."

"Good idea," I said, glancing at Edward.

Edward nodded, and turned to Laurent. "How's Tanya?"

Laurent grinned, "Tanya's great."

"You still together, right?" I asked with a smile. I was poking around to see if he'd mention anything about a life changing question that he was planning on asking.

"Yep," Alice piped. "Tell them what you told me last night." She said, reaching forward to poke his bicep.

I bounced on my toes, "Yes, what did you tell Alice?"

"I think," he said, choosing his words carefully. "I think I'm falling for her."

"AWW!" I squealed, clapping my hands together. "Laurent's in love, Laurent's in looove!"

Edward started laughing, and soon the entire family followed; except Laurent, of course. He just stood there, his arms folding over his chest.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Laurent," Alice said, reaching forward to pinch his cheek. "There is nothing to be ashamed of, we're just happy for you, that's all."

Rosalie grinned, "Who knows, we might be planning another wedding soon."

Alice shot a side glance at me, and I smiled. Alice, Rosalie, and I were the only three that knew of Alice's vision, and we planned on keeping it that way.

"Whoa, whoa," Laurent said, holding his hands up in the air. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?"

I laughed. "Alright, alright. We'll leave you alone…for now."

"Come on," Edward said, "We have got some unpacking to do."

I smiled, and picked my duffle bag back up, and slung it over my shoulder. Emmett laughed, and I shot him an odd glance.

"Didn't you guys get enough of that in Italy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I only responded by smacking him in the back of the head, and proceeding to my husband's and my bedroom. To _unpack. _

_---------------------------_

A few hours later, Edward and I were lying in bed together, just relaxing in each other's arms. We were silent again, lost in our own musings. I had come to realize the fact that I had lost many of my human memories in the passing time, slowly, the same way my eyes gradually were turning gold. They were no longer crimson, and they had quite a few months before they were the beautiful butterscotch. But they were somewhere in the middle, almost a brown color. Edward continually reminded me that they were so close to my human eyes, but I couldn't even remember that, what my human self looked like, or half of my other memories from my past.

I could remember memories with Edward best. There were a few full conversations I could recall, word for word. Other things however, had been completely lost.

I couldn't even see my father's face if I tried. I could no longer replay his voice in my head. I remembered his loving attitude, and his sweet eyes. I remembered his crinkly smile, and his simple nature. I would forget all of him soon, and the thought made me sad, I had barely gotten to know my father, and soon I wouldn't remember the very little that I had learned about him.

Renee was just a distant memory. I remembered that she was my mother, and I remembered that I had loved her very much, but that's all I knew. She had been my best friend at one time, and I had longed to go home to her, before I met Edward. I would never see her again, nor my biological father.

Carlisle and Esme were my parents. That was that.

None of my old friends had faces anymore either. Mike, Jessica, and Angela, they were just names to me now. I couldn't picture their faces, or hear their voices. I remembered that Mike had a thing for me, and that Angela was quiet, but that was all.

Although deep down it pained me to know what I had been forced to give up, it also just felt _right_. I didn't regret anything that had happened to me, not even Victoria biting me. Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper were my friends and siblings now. They were all needed. Just my family and my husband.

"Bella?" Edward's melodic voice brought me from my thoughts.

I smiled, although he couldn't see it, with my back pressed to his chest. "Yes, Edward?"

He kissed the top of my head, and asked, "Are you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy, Edward." I replied, "I have you, why wouldn't I be happy?"

"I meant with how things turned out," he said, running his fingers through my hair. "How we got to this point, being turned into what you are."

"I'm very happy," I said, turning my head to look at him. "I'm happy with what I am, who I am with, with everything that will be. As long as I have you with me, I will _always_ be happy."

"Good," he said, kissing the top of my head again.

"Are you happy?" I asked.

"Happy doesn't even begin to describe how I feel," he replied.

I grinned, "I love you, Edward."

"I love you too, Bella." He replied instantly.

This was our life now, and it would be for eternity. I had no idea what the future had in store, but I knew that we could handle it together, no matter the circumstances.

Love was all we needed, all we wanted. And we had a love that would last forever.

* * *

And that, is the end.

I have made an important decision today...

THERE **WILL** BE A SEQUEL

I have a plot, and everything. It will be up soon, and it will be called:

**Divide and Conquer**


	28. Final Author's Note

**VERY IMPORTANT; PLEASE READ.**

Hey there, everyone. I am so thrilled with the encouraging reviews that I have received for this story, and I am so excited to get started on the sequel! But first, I have a few little side notes to make.

Firstly, I have to explain the lack of updates for my other stories.

Athazagoraphobia, Seduction's sequel, is only co-written by me. Inky and I have to both be able to write, and have time to work on the story together. Chapters take quite a bit longer to develop, and we're sorry for that, but that's life.

Truly Madly Deeply hasn't been updated in a long time, and I'm terribly sorry for that. I have the next chapter typed up, and it's in the editing process, and it'll be up soon.

You Can't Fight Fate is also being edited. I went on a huge writing spree the other day, so I have the next three chapters done, and the second one is being edited. So, that's another one that will be up soon.

Kay, so that's that.

Ummm…

Right, so Divide and Conquer will be written on my own accord, because I said so. If it gets so terrible that I need an editor, well… I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. As my way to grow as an author, I like having one story that I write completely on my own. Star-Crossed was that story, and it's sequel will be the same.

DaC will bring in the importance of the Volturi, as well as another new character. The Denali coven will be involved quite a bit too, (mostly Tanya, teehee) and of course, everyone's favorite arrogant asshole sweetheart, Laurent.

I've decided to give you guys a little information, because I said so.

**Edward and Bella:  
**There might be a little trouble in paradise for everyone's favorite couple. As newlyweds, they are going to have a few marital problems, and things might get a little nerve-wracking. Sometimes, love isn't enough for forever, sometimes it is. For Edward and Bella, you'll just have to wait and see.

**The Volturi:  
**They want Bella, badly. They say they want her to join, but they might have an ulterior motive underneath their cloaks.

**Laurent:  
**He's going to have some trouble accepting the fact that he is in love again. Coming to terms with the fact that he can love someone other then Rebecca is going to be difficult for the guy. He has to understand that it is completely normal to move on with someone else, and that Rebecca would want him to be happy. But will he?

That's not all, but that's all I can share. :D

_Until I post again,  
Kiwi_


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